


Moon-marked 2: The Demon's Halo

by combatfaerie



Series: Moon-marked [2]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Blood Magic, Brollins, Demons, Don't copy to another site, F/M, rollynch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:53:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combatfaerie/pseuds/combatfaerie
Summary: A sequel to MOON-MARKED. Now that Seth knows her secret, Becky feels settled for the first time in a long time. But when she and Paige run into trouble with the supernatural council, it's up to their friends—and a certain demon—to help free the werewolf and the vampire before the council doles out punishments neither woman can survive.
Relationships: Becky Lynch | Rebecca Knox/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black
Series: Moon-marked [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871584
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

"Stop fucking already and get out of bed! We're leaving in thirty minutes!" Roman's voice burst into the room with same intensity as curtains being spread open wide to let in the sun, and Seth and Becky both flinched from it in much the same way. She recovered faster, though, and pulled the sheets up to her chest when looked towards the hotel room door. It was resolutely closed and they were completely alone, but Roman's voice cut though their cozy, quiet room all the same. "Stop fucking already and get out of bed! We're leaving in thirty minutes!"

"My phone," Seth groaned, reaching towards the bedside table. "Roman was fucking with it last night. He must have made some custom alarms. I sure as hell didn't set one for six in the morning." Thanks to some flight delays, they wouldn't be able to fly out of the city until late afternoon, so a group of them—The Shield, Renee, Paige, and the Four Horsewomen minus Charlotte, who was spending time with her ailing father—had decided to go on a morning hike in lieu of doing a workout. Two alarms had gone off on Seth's phone earlier, but they had mostly slept through the six o'clock one and were having sex when the second one trilled. Contrary to Roman's assumption, they weren't fucking this time around, though they were definitely getting close to it. Since the full moon was still a couple weeks away, Becky was getting in as much fun as she could.

"I don't do that," Becky murmured, burying her face in Seth's shoulder, "and you get mad when I try to play with your phone."

"Because last time you did, you changed all my contacts' names to Irish folklore characters and it took me three days to get it sorted out!" Shaking his head, Seth dialled Roman's number—having learned from Becky's phone prank, he was trying to memorize more numbers and dial them from memory rather than speed dial—and rubbed Becky's back with his free hand. "What the hell, man? What did you do to my phone?"

Becky would have been able to hear Roman's chuckle even if she weren't a werewolf. It was one of those deep, resonant sounds she found comforting. "And we weren't fucking, by the way," she piped up, barely lifting her head from Seth's chest.

"As if anyone will believe that. You two better be getting ready. I've already rented the group van and everyone's downstairs except Paige," Roman reported, "so hurry up." Then he disconnected, leaving Seth holding a silent phone.

"Go shower first," Seth offered, sitting up and drawing Becky along with him. "I'll get clothes out of our bags and you can change while I'm in there."

Becky rubbed at her eyes before kissing him. "No breakfast?"

Seth shrugged, nudging her closer to the edge of the bed. "Roman's the tyrant, not me. Take it up with him." He squeezed her thigh as he stood and headed over to their pile of bags.

Sighing, Becky stood and shuffled into the bathroom, turning the shower on as cold as she could bear—which wasn't very much. It meant she didn't linger under the spray, though, and she only did a quick wash. If they were going hiking, after all, they were going to get sweaty anyway, and they would have to return to the hotel to get their bags before heading to the airport. After towel-drying her hair, she wrangled it into a ponytail and then dried off as best she could. Her clothes were probably going to stick to her, but the upside to leggings was that they were supposed to fit close anyway. "I'm out!" she called, draping her towel on the rack before poking her head around the bathroom's door frame. She hadn't heard any knocking, but she wouldn't put it past Roman to come make sure they were getting ready and hadn't tried to sneak in one final quickie.

Seth gave her a quick kiss before sneaking around her into the bathroom. "T-shirt and leggings okay?"

"Always." Becky bit down on a laugh as Seth turned on the shower again and promptly howled in surprise at the temperature of the water. "I thought it would wake us up!" she called out. Before he could hop out and tickle her, Becky started getting dressed. The t-shirt didn't actually cling too much and once she unrolled the leggings, they smoothed out well enough. While she was tying her shoes, she saw Seth's cross-body bag on the dresser, so she spilled her purse out onto the bed and put only the necessities back in while sweeping the other items into her luggage; she could sort things out when they came back to repack.

"I'm getting you back for that," Seth said, coming up from behind her and almost taking her by surprise when his hands landed on her hips. He must have taken his clothing in with him, because he was already dressed, his hair up in his trademark man-bun.

Becky turned to face him, tilting her face up for a kiss. "Or I could make it up to you," she countered, "with a quickie in the forest. Dean and Renee will be in their own little world, Paige will be bitching about her boots, and Sasha, Bayley, and Roman will get into some competitive thing about jumping over logs or whatever, so I'm sure we'll be able to sneak off for a bit. . . ."

"We'll see. It'll depend on how many people are on the trails. I thought Bayley looked the park up yesterday and said it was pretty popular with hikers." It didn't stop Seth from kissing her, and they almost tumbled back on the bed, but a knock on the door stopped them both. "We're just getting our shoes on!" he called out.

"Prove it!" It was Paige's voice, tired and irritated, and Becky untangled herself from Seth to go open the door. "Don't worry," Paige added, stifling a yawn. "Roman said we're stopping for a fast-food breakfast to tide us over until we stop for our picnic. Well, for you lot." As a vampire, Paige could eat human food, but it did her little good. When Seth went to grab his bag, Paige leaned in and whispered, "I'm surprised you're not having a quickie."

Becky rolled her eyes. "You and Roman both. Maybe I'll sneak him away in the forest."

Paige laughed. "Very wolfy of you." Before Seth could ask, she smiled and opened the door. "Keys, phones, everything? Let's go get our Daniel Bryan nature walk over with so I don't lose too much of my lovely pallor." As she started down the hall to the elevator, she imitated Daniel's _Yes! Yes! Yes!_ gesture, using her middle fingers instead of the index ones.

"Huh. I'm vaguely impressed, Bex." Roman was waiting for them in the lobby and he hugged Becky after she stepped off the elevator. "I thought—"

"I know. We know what _everyone_ apparently thought." Becky narrowed her eyes and added, "Paige mentioned breakfast?"

"Drive-thru style, yeah. Not the healthiest," Roman conceded as he led them to the waiting group van, "but one morning won't kill us, especially if we're going hiking. And I'm sure you two will wear off even more later."

Seth let out a soft snort. "We do actually do things other than fucking, you know," he pointed out. "We walk my dog—not a euphemism." He shot a quick glare Paige's way before she climbed into the passenger seat. Dean and Renee had already claimed the back row and Sasha and Bayley were in front of them, so that left the first bench for Seth and Becky. "We work out—again, not a euphemism."

"The fact that you have to keep saying _not a euphemism_ should tell you something, man." Dean's chuckle was almost lost as Seth pulled the van's sliding door shut.

"Or maybe I just know my friends," Seth retorted.

"Which, again, is not a euphemism," Becky chimed in, bumping her shoulder against Seth's.

Roman shook his head as he adjusted the driver's side mirror. "Behave, children, or I'm taking you back and making you sit in on the quarterly projections meeting in the conference room." He found them a fast-food place with a drive-thru and breakfast menu and after a few minutes of craning necks to read the board, everyone placed an order aside from him and Bayley—the two who were actually up early enough to eat breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. The next ten minutes of the trip were filled with rustling bags, requests for more napkins, and muttered curses as coffee sloshed out of lids and onto laps. "This is what happens when you don't get up on time," Roman remarked smugly.

"Okay, _Dad_." Everyone but Bayley said it, and she even chimed in at the end with a smile.

The rustling became almost unbearable for Becky as everyone started to finish up and their order bags quickly became garbage bags, and when she rested her head against Seth's chest so at least one ear was blocked, he cradled her head with his arm, effectively shielding the other ear. She slid a hand just under the hem of his shirt and stroked his side, hoping he would know it was a _thank you_. As amazing as her friends were with working with—and around—her werewolf nature, they sometimes forgot that her amplified senses weren't always a blessing.

"Sorry, Bex," Bayley said sheepishly once Seth had tapped Becky's shoulder, indicating that the worst was over. "We forgot. All the bags are on the floor now."

Becky could still hear the crinkle of paper wrappers settling, but it was much better than before. "It's okay. It's not easy to be quiet with food wrappers."

"Well, you don't have to worry," Roman said, "because we're here, and there's a garbage can at the start of the trail."

Becky and Seth piled out first, pulling their seats forward to make it easier for the other ones further back. Bayley grabbed their food bag and ran it and the others to the garbage can, still mostly empty so early in the day. "It smells so good here!" she proclaimed, shutting her eyes. "You must love it, Bex."

Home for Bex was always people—her family, her friends, her makeshift little pack in the WWE that knew about her secret—but the forest was a very close second. No matter which country she was in, if she could find a forest and run safely, she felt at peace. "I do." Becky took a deep breath. There were two other vehicles in the parking lot—a group-sized van like theirs and a small, eco-friendly car—but she couldn't catch very many human scents. "I think someone brought a dog with them," she said slowly, sniffing the air again. Dogs could be nervous around werewolves, but she found the smaller dogs were the worst; the larger ones tended to be more curious than anything. "Smells like a Lab, though, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Everyone got everything?" Roman asked as he locked up the van, slinging the picnic bag over his shoulder. He'd had the foresight to get four bottles of water at the fast-food place and passed them around. Seth and Becky shared one, as did Dean and Renee. Sasha and Bayley shared as well, so he offered the last bottle to Paige. "Unless you don't need to hydrate?"

"I should be fine. If I need a sip, I'll take from yours." Then Paige adjusted her sunglasses and pulled her hat further down on her head, looking like a goth teenager reluctantly spending time with her jock cousins. "Let's take our favourite puppy for a walk."

"Not a euphemism," Seth replied, sticking his tongue out when Paige glared at him.

Becky and Seth positioned themselves in the middle of the pack at the beginning, letting Roman lead. When they came upon the hiker with a dog—indeed a Lab, as Becky had predicted, a lovely chocolate one named Horace who refused to move on until he had obtained a head pat from everyone in their group—Becky had tensed up a bit, but if anything, the dog was confused by her conflicting scents. "Labs are great," she said once they had continued on their hike. "Dopey and lovable."

"Just like your boyfriend?" Dean piped up, groaning when Renee gave him a hard smack to the arm.

"Careful," Roman warned, turning back to chastise his Shield brothers. "There's an overlook up ahead. It would be horrible if someone fell over the railing."

"Is that a threat," Dean replied, "or the questionable murder of a second wife for life insurance money?"

Renee raised her gaze to the sky and shook her head. "Where did I find him?"

"And why didn't you leave him there?" Paige finished with a wink. "Come on. I want to see the overlook. All this blasted sunshine has to be worth something."

The overlook was stunning, as promised, and they relaxed there for a few minutes, looking at the pedestal map by the railing to get a sense of the path network that branched off from the clearing. There were plenty of little offshoot trails, but Paige was hardly dressed for true hiking, so they debated whether to stay on the main path. Two cyclists passed while the group was discussing their choices, and they waved before returning to their conversation. "We can always split up and meet back around here at a specific time to find a good picnic spot," Renee suggested.

"And you guys always make fun of me and Seth for wanting to sneak off," Becky laughed, leaning against the railing. Something was niggling at the back of her head, but she couldn't figure out what. The hiker and the dog had smelled completely normal, and the quick whiff she had caught from the cyclist hadn't set off any alarm bells, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She glanced at Paige for confirmation, but the vampire was busy consulting the map—no doubt looking for the easiest trail. 

Seth noticed, though, and he edged closer, ignoring Roman's eye roll. "What's wrong?"

Becky shook her head minutely, not wanting to draw attention to her growing dismay. "Just . . . just a feeling. I don't know. I didn't miscalculate the full moon, did I?" Ever since her lapse when she had almost hurt Seth, she had been diligent about setting multiple reminders on her phone, tablet, and laptop, and as well as making notes in her journal. 

She had to smile as Seth pulled out his phone and reflexively flipped to a special calendar app he kept just for tracking the moon phases. It wasn't his responsibility in the least, but she appreciated that he was trying to learn as much as he could about her werewolf nature. "Sixteen days. Does that sound right?" he asked, showing her the screen.

Nodding, Becky rose and kissed him. "Thank you. I was thinking somewhere around two weeks, so yeah, that sounds right. Maybe the breakfast just isn't sitting right," she mused. "Too greasy or something like that."

"Could be." Wrapping his arm around her waist, Seth steered them to where the rest of the group was discussing their plans. 

Paige was going to be the odd one out: there were the two couples and then Sasha and Bayley, and Roman would have wanted a real hike, not some lazy stroll. Becky was almost about to suggest that Seth should go with Roman and she could stay with Paige, but to her surprise, Bayley stepped forward. "My ankle's still not quite right," she said with a wince. It had caught between the ring steps and the apron the night before, and while her x-rays showed nothing, she had been favouring it all morning. "I'd hoped that walking would loosen it up a bit, but no such luck. Anyone else taking it easy?"

"Me, of course. Hiking is not my thing. Let's find us a trail." Paige motioned Bayley over to the map.

"Well, I know I'm not splitting up _that_ or _that_ ," Sasha declared, pointing first to Dean and Renee and then to Seth and Becky. "So how about it, Roman? Want to see if you can keep up with The Boss?"

"I know I can," Roman replied with an easy smile, "but I'd be happy to prove it. You go pick a path. That way you can't complain when you lose." As Bayley and Paige started to head towards a beginner trail, Roman called out. "Meet back here in an hour?"

"You got the food," Bayley yelled back, laughing. "You make the rules." Then she waved before she and Paige headed into the trees.

Dean and Renee seemed to pick a trail at random. "It has to go somewhere, right?" Dean said with a shrug. "I mean, it won't go to a murder cabin or something. They wouldn't want to advertise that."

Shaking her head, Renee gave him a gentle push. "One hour. Got it." Then they headed out a trail that looked more advanced than Bayley and Paige's, but no one figured they were going to end up venturing very far anyway.

Roman and Sasha looked at each other knowingly, then over at Becky and Seth. "I know we didn't see a lot of cars in the parking lot," Roman began as he rummaged through the picnic bag, "but please be discreet anyway? We don't need you getting caught on some camera meant to be watching nesting owls or something." Then he tossed a small package to them. "And at least clean up after."

Becky caught the packet easily and laughed when she saw the wet-wipes logo. "Honestly, Roman. We're capable of going more than two hours without fucking. If you want to tag along as a chaperone so we can prove it—"

"And listen to Seth complain in the locker room all tomorrow night? No thank you." Then Roman smiled. "I'm just bugging you two. It's not like Dean and Renee will be collecting leaves, you know? Go . . . get some exercise and be back here in an hour." He pointed to a steeper trail to the north. "That one is supposed to have the foundation of an old bunker."

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Paige is the one primed to be in a horror movie, not me. But sure, why not?" Then she waved at Becky and Seth. "Have fun, lovebirds."

Becky passed the packet of wipes to Seth and traced a finger along the map. "Dean and Renee went that way," she said, pointing to a winding trail. Then she slid her finger over to a relatively straight path. "That's where Bayley and Paige should be. And I think that's the bunker Roman had mentioned." Even if they didn't end up fucking—and realistically, Becky knew they probably would—it would be nice to find a path of their own for some privacy. "You keeping track of time?"

Seth showed her his phone, with a clock ticking down from an hour. "So where are we going?"

After a few more moments of consulting the map, Becky grabbed his hand and kept walking along the main trail, heading even further north than the path Roman and Sasha were taking. "It's pretty steep in parts, but it has a great view at the top." She grinned up at him. "In case you do actually want to hike."

"Before," he asked, "or after?"

Becky took off at a light run, not worried about whether Seth would be able to follow. All the official trails were well maintained and clearly marked, so he shouldn't get lost, and she wasn't planning to run at full speed. She wanted to get caught, after all. Just as Seth almost caught up, she went a bit faster, letting the scents of the forest drift over her. This trail wasn't used as often as some; she could only pick up the faded traces of a human or two. The strange feeling fell away the further she got from the overlook and she almost forgot that she was supposed to be keeping ahead of Seth. He put on a burst of speed and caught her around the waist, tumbling them both to the forest floor. "Careful," she gasped. "Don't drop the wipes. Roman will probably want some back."

"Ha." Seth pinned her to the ground and kissed her hard, covering her whole body with his. He knew she loved the dynamic of it, being so much stronger than him and yet so much smaller. "Now, if I recall, you owe me for the cold shower. So in return, I want something . . . warm." He slid a hand down into the front of her leggings, teasing her thighs apart easily.

Becky's eyes drifted shut as he started to stroke her, kissing his way down her neck. Sex with Seth was a delight anytime, anywhere, but orgasms out in the open, in the middle of nature, always seemed more fulfilling somehow. It didn't take long until she was wet, writhing beneath him, begging him to make her come—but then he pulled his hand free and sat back. "That . . . that is _mean_."

Seth grinned wickedly, hauling her to her feet with his dry hand. "No. It's an . . . opening salvo." Before Becky could reply with something mocking, he gave her a hard kiss. "That tree there," he said, pointing to one that had no branches for at least ten feet. When Becky went to lean back against it, though, he shook his head. "Turn around."

Smiling to herself, Becky did as Seth said, wrapping her arms around the trunk and enjoying the small bite of rough bark against her skin. She was happy to let him take control, pushing her leggings and underwear down to her knees all at once. When he moved in behind her, teasing her with his hands and murmuring wicked things by her ear, she felt her knees start to tremble. _God, I wish he was a werewolf,_ she thought as he thrust inside her. Becky never let herself entertain that thought very often; it was too dangerous, too tempting. But the prospect of finally being able to fuck him without fear on a full-moon night was almost an orgasm in itself. 

Her grip on the tree tightened as he fucked her harder, making the bark scratch at her arms and belly. When his roaming hands stuttered over some of the thin scratches on her abdomen, he pulled her hips back, making her moan. As he slid a hand between her legs again, Becky turned to the side and bit her arm to keep from shrieking. "Please," she mumbled against her sleeve. " _Please._ "

She thought she was going to climax first for sure, but Seth came in a rush, fingers digging painfully into her. He finished her with his other hand and then they tumbled to the forest floor again, pants down to their knees. "That was worth a cold shower," Seth gasped, sprawling happily amongst fallen leaves.

Becky rolled over enough to push up his shirt and kiss his stomach. "I'll have to remember that." The nagging strangeness was a distant memory now, lost in a fog of playfulness and pleasure as she moved down to Seth's cock. "We'll need some of the wipes for the picnic," she reasoned as she started licking him clean. "And if we don't use any. . . ."

"Roman will still know." Seth's laugh reverberated through them both and when Becky was done licking him, he rolled her over and repaid the favour, making her orgasm twice more before he took a wipe from the packet and used it on them both. There was no good place to put it, so he wrapped it in a clean wipe and stuck it in his jeans pocket for the time being.

"Forest sex is the best." Becky's fingers drifted idly through the fallen leaves; she felt a small insect crawl over her knuckle, but by the time she thought to brush it away, it was gone and Seth was helping tug her leggings and underwear back into place. "Maybe we should have done our hike first," she quipped as she tried to stand. 

"If we go back down," Seth reasoned, sitting up and pulling Becky back against him, "we'll have gravity on our side." Neither of them were in a rush, though, and Seth leaned back against the tree so they could enjoy the afterglow and the ambience all at once. Becky was almost dozing off when his phone chimed. "Thirty minute warning. At least it wasn't Roman's message again."

" _Stop fucking already and get out of bed!_ " Becky tried to imitate Roman's commanding tone, but she couldn't get her voice low enough. " _We're leaving in thirty minutes!_ "

"We'll get him back for that," Seth promised, bringing them both to their feet. "Are you okay to walk?"

"Maybe." Becky heard a sharp shriek and almost got ready to run—until she placed the voice and realized the tone was sexual, not scared. _Renee_ , she thought. It was far enough away that Becky knew Renee and Dean wouldn't have heard them, but it could still be awkward if they bumped into each other on the way back. "Let's go and find out."

They walked back down the path side by side, not hand in hand; their fingers were needed for getting leaves out of hair and brushing dirt and debris off clothing, and they stopped just before the mouth of the trail to make sure they hadn't missed any spots. "If we're the first ones back," Seth said, "I'm never going to let Roman live it down."

They were, and he didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

"Remember who got back first? Oh, that's right. It was _us_." Seth leaned back on his elbows and smirked over at Roman, but the moment of gloating was short lived when Becky sat against him like he was her own personal chair. 

"You were also the last ones down to the van," Dean pointed out. "So it evens out." Unlike Seth and Becky, he hadn't bothered checking his hair for leaves and twigs. It clearly bothered Renee, though, because she kept pulling forest debris out of his hair and tossing it aside. 

After reconvening at the overlook, they all hiked together to a clearing that held some well-weathered picnic tables. Since they were the only ones in the area, they pulled two picnic tables together for their lunch and left their bags and purses there when they decided to lounge in the sun for a while. Paige was avoiding the sun as best she could, sitting in the meagre shade of one of the picnic tables while everyone else was stretched out on the grass. "If we had to be delayed," Sasha said, "I guess this wasn't a bad way to spend a morning. Otherwise I'd probably be sleeping in."

"Me too," Paige chimed in. Then she pointed at the others in turn. "Roman would be working out, because he's all dedicated like that. Bayley probably would be too." When she got to Dean and Renee and then Becky and Seth, she waved her hand imperiously. "And all of us know what _they_ would be doing." 

"Hey, if you want to be an honorary auntie," Dean said, "it's part of the process." When Renee stood up to take a handful of twigs to the garbage can, he shook his head like a dog that had just emerged from a lake. Then he pointed at Becky and Seth. "I don't know what their excuse is. Werewolfism?"

Becky laughed. "I don't need an excuse, and if I did, being a werewolf wouldn't be it." It felt weird to say it out in the open, even though she knew there was no one within earshot. She had spent so many years—the majority of her life, really—hiding her nature, and now over a dozen people knew outside her family. Paige was a vampire, of course, but she could do just as much damage with Becky's secret as anyone else. "Besides, that wouldn't explain Seth's part of the equation." 

Seth wisely waited before replying, leaning forward to kiss Becky's cheek. "I just try to keep up. In all things." Becky laughed so hard he nearly lost his balance, so he sat up straight and held her in his lap.

The picnic tables were a good distance from the path, and even Paige and Becky couldn't make out many details from where they were. "Are those the same two cyclists from earlier?" Paige asked, braving the sun and leaning forward a bit when she heard the whir of rotating tires.

Becky sniffed the air again, but sitting in the midst of her friends—most of whom were sweating, and some of whom who had just been fucking—and the remnants of their picnic made it hard to parse scents well. She got a sense of the strange energy again, passing through her head like a cloud scuttling in front of the sun, but it was fleeting and easily forgotten. "I don't think so," Becky said hesitantly. "The other bikes' chains had recently been oiled, and I didn't catch a hint of that."

Bayley shook her head in wonder. "I know that's totally regular for you, Bex, but that still blows my mind. Now when I go shopping for shampoo, I'm always thinking, _Is this scent okay? Is it too strong? Will it annoy Bex if we wrestle?_ "

"Don't worry too much about that, Bayley. I mean, I appreciate the effort, but I've learned how to filter out a lot of things. My brain still recognizes them and processes them, but it knows not to categorize them as threats. Sensory adaptation, basically." Becky moved so that her forehead was resting against Seth's jaw. She still had her moments of odd fascination with his beard, though she wasn't sure why. He hadn't changed it much since they had started officially dating, but she still found it comforting. Sometimes Seth even said she was more like a cat than a dog, nuzzling up to his neck when they slept.

Then a jolt went through Becky so quickly she thought she had been stung by a wasp and she immediately looked down at her arms. When she glanced up, though, she saw Paige having a similar reaction; the vampire even pushed her sunglasses up onto her head so she could get a better look. Sasha's gaze bounced between them. "What's wrong? Are we on some ancient burial ground or something?"

"That can't be it. Paige would be all over that. Intruder alert, maybe?" Dean pointed to the main trail, where two men were walking. "Anyone witness a crime recently? Because those dudes look like they were born to serve subpoenas."

The two men didn't look like much of anything at all, Becky thought, and that was the point. Dark hair, dark eyes, generic outfit of t-shirt and jeans—nothing that would stand out. No visible tattoos or piercings, no obscure band logos on the shirts. Their skin was either tanned for a white person or light for someone of mixed race. They looked completely normal and average, and yet they absolutely weren't. "Oh shit," Becky whispered, scrambling to her feet and yanking Seth to his. "Run."

Seth followed her gaze to the two men, who had stepped off the trail and were approaching them in no particular hurry. "Bex, what's wrong? They probably just got lost and—"

Becky shoved Seth in the chest hard enough that he staggered. "You need to _run_."

Paige shot to her feet and started trying to herd their friends towards the trees. "Bex is right. You need to get out of here _now_."

But Seth wouldn't budge. He took Becky's face in his hands and tried to hold her gaze, but she kept looking towards the advancing men, one of whom was opening his mouth to speak. "Bex, what is it? If they're fans, we'll just ask them to let us enjoy our private time. It shouldn't be a prob—"

For a split second, Becky froze, eyes open painfully wide. Glancing over her shoulder, Seth saw that Paige was similarly paralyzed. Then a sound of pure agony cut through the serenity of the forest, drilling right into Seth's brain, and even though Becky was right in front of him, right in his hands, it still took him a moment to register that the noise was coming from her. He had heard all kinds of sounds coming from her mouth—moans and groans, sighs and shrieks, laughter and lamenting and everything in between—but this was torture incarnate. Paige's wail was no better, and soon both supernaturals had crashed to their knees, clutching at their heads in anguish.

"What the hell, man?" Roman swore, touching a hand to Becky's shoulder as he faced down the two men, now mere metres away. "What are you doing?" Clusters of birds, frightened by the screams, took off en masse, temporarily darkening the sky. 

"To them?" The man who spoke was slightly taller than the other, but otherwise they were nearly identical in their blandness. "Nothing yet."

"To you?" The second man gave a smile that would have rivalled Paige's fangs for sharpness. "This." Then he knelt and slammed his fist into the ground, much like Roman signalling his Superman punch.

Seth wasn't sure if it was a sonic boom, but it reminded him of the moments in movies between when a bomb was dropped and when debris started to fly. Except nothing moved, nothing except the strangers and Paige and Becky; blood was streaming down the vampire's face and Becky's hands kept changing to wolf paws and back again, almost faster than the eye could follow. Each change went further and further up her arm. When Seth tried to go to her, though, he couldn't move at all, nothing except his eyes. Dean, Renee, Bayley, and Sasha were out of his line of sight, but he saw Roman's eyes frantically darting around as well. 

The taller man went to Becky, closing thick shackles around her hands and then pressing a button on either side. A metal dome closed over either hand, shrinking down until she had no choice but to turn her hands into fists or risk breaking her fingers. She had finally stopped shrieking, but from the look of utter pain on her face, it was only because she had screamed herself hoarse. "Secured," he reported. Then he placed a hand around her throat and within seconds, she had slumped to the ground.

For Paige, the sharp-smiled man started to clamp a flat muzzle on her face, but she fought as best she could. "Finn!" she rasped, voice almost gone. When the man tried to cover her mouth to keep her from speaking again, she bit his fingers and spit his blood back in his face. "Call Finn!" But with Becky subdued, the taller man was free to assist, and he held Paige in place while his partner put the muzzle back in place. "Halo! Reverse!" Her next attempted word was lost to the muzzle and a sharp punch to the gut.

"What do you want to do with them?" the taller man asked, looking at Seth with particular disdain.

"Leave them," the other man shrugged. "If we were supposed to take care of them, it should have been in the orders." He shoved Paige forward hard enough that she stumbled, then yanked her to her feet and did it over and over until they reached the path. Once there, he placed a hand on Paige's forehead and she slumped just like Becky had.

The taller man hoisted an unconscious Becky over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and looked at all the humans one by one before striding off. The other man and Paige were already out of sight before he reached the path, and it didn't take long for him and Becky to also disappear.

The next few minutes were as agonizing as Paige and Becky's screams had been as the group's paralysis slowly ebbed away, leaving them slumped on the ground—except for Seth. The instant he could feel his legs with any sort of surety, he was off running, desperate to find some sort of trail. He knew he couldn't match Becky's prowess, but she had taught him about markers like broken twigs and flattened grass, and he hoped the burden of carrying two adult women would slow the mysterious men down.

Roman caught up to him easily, though, and sloppily tackled him to the ground. "Stop. Think. We can't help them this way."

Tears burned Seth's eyes as he struggled against his friend's grip as well as his reason. "It's only been a few minutes! And they're carrying unconscious people. We can—"

"We can't," Roman said gently, hauling Seth up and holding him tightly. "We don't even know what they are. If they would take us too—and that's a big if, because that one dude seemed like he would have killed us all where we were—we would only be something else Paige and Becky had to worry about." Then he turned and started walking Seth back to the others.

Everyone was recovering slowly. Bayley and Sasha leaned on each other for support, while Dean cradled Renee in his lap. "Paige said to call Finn," Renee said, "but there was something after that. Anyone catch it?"

"Hell rivers?" Bayley guessed. "The second word definitely had a V-sound in it. Rivers, reverb, revert, something like that."

"Reverse, maybe?" Sasha clutched her head and grimaced. "Fuck, what did they do? It feels like I had a root canal done on my _soul_."

"Hello?" Dean asked. When Sasha gave him an odd look, he rolled his eyes. "What Paige was saying. The shorter word sounded like _hello_. Maybe she meant _helo_ , like for a helicopter? Maybe they're being taken to some evil lair only accessible by helicopter?"

"Or _hollow_ ," Renee added. "It's hard to tell because of her accent."

Seth rubbed at his face irritably. He didn't care if the others saw him crying—they knew how much he cared for Becky—but he needed his vision to be clear so he could start taking some kind of action. "I thought she said _halo_ ," he offered, "but that makes no sense."

"None of this makes any sense," Roman replied, sinking down onto a picnic table bench. "As soon as we're all good to go, we should head back to the hotel and call Finn. Make lists on your phones of all the possible words. Just because they don't make sense to us doesn't mean they won't make sense to him. Those were Paige's last words to us." It sounded dreadfully final and they all knew it. "She wouldn't just spew random garbage. She knew she didn't have a lot of time, so she had to make her words count."

Everyone gathered their items from the table and started making lists; Seth even sent contenders to himself in a text, hoping auto-correct might be useful for once in his life and hit upon something that made more sense than _hello_ and _reverb_. He desperately hoped Finn had answers, because he wasn't even sure of the questions.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Blood and after-effects of torture; there is what appears to be self-harming behaviour, but the point is for the person to break free of something, not to injure themselves. If you want more information before deciding to read it, contact me.

Normally Becky loved all things warm—coffee, Hawaii, Seth—but after the beating she had taken, the cold stone floor was a welcome balm. She sprawled across it, pressing as much of her skin to the stones as she could. Whenever her eyes drifted shut, though, one of the sorcerer's spells was triggered and jolted them open. Whoever their captors were, they clearly didn't want Becky and Paige getting any rest. A long line of tiny gems studded her forearm like piercings, each one a spell that could be activated from afar. She wasn't sure how they were affixed, but she had tried prying them out and even biting them to no avail.

That didn't mean Paige wasn't still trying, though, and making a bloody mess of herself in the process. "Stop . . . wasting energy," Becky croaked, rolling onto her side and pawing ineffectively at her friend. Her hands were still encased in the metal mitts, and she had learned the hard way that they weren't very sturdy. Any time she tried to punch a wall, the metal magnified her force and sent it back into her arm.

Paige spat out a mouthful of her blood and kept working. "Not wasting," she muttered. "Exploring. If I can see how they're anchored, maybe—" Then her entire body seized and she crashed to the floor. Becky quickly extended her leg so the vampire's head landed on her thigh and not the hard stone.

"To nerves," Becky replied. Paige may have recovered her voice first, but Becky's thoughts seemed to be clearer. "They connect to nerves." That was another thing she had learned the hard way. It occurred to her that she could be doing more damage to herself than her captors were.

"Well, shit." Paige stayed curled up by the werewolf, hugging Becky's leg as her body recovered from the jolt. "Did you recognize either of those guys?"

Becky shook her head, looking up at the ceiling. The room itself was actually quite generous: high ceiling, long walls, big windows. The last would be a problem for Paige if they had taken her amulet, but otherwise it kept the room from feeling like the dungeon it so obviously was. "No. Just knew that they were bad news." She caught her breath and added, "I had a weird feeling a few times, but I kept shrugging it off. Stupid of me. I should know better. I'm sorry."

Paige patted Becky's knee as she struggled to sit. "Not your fault. I felt something too, but I was too busy complaining about being in the sun to pay attention to it."

"Speaking of sun. . . ." Becky pointed to the windows. At the moment, the angle of the sun meant most of the light was at the far end of the room, but that would change as the day wore on. In theory, Paige could just keep dodging the beams by repositioning herself, but Becky wasn't sure how much light would come in when the sun was at its peak. "Amulet?"

The vampire pulled up her shirt and looked down at her breasts. "Still there." Yanking her bra down a bit, she showed Becky a delicate dermal piercing. "I thought about a genital piercing," she confided, "but I'd rather not have an emergency swap-out down there, you know? Pretty much everyone's seen my boobs already, so no big deal."

Becky wasn't sure if that was a reference to her photo leaks or just her general choice of attire, and she was too exhausted to guess. "They must have searched us already," she said, "so they clearly don't want you to get crispy. At least not yet."

"There's the Irish positivity I love so much." Then Paige grabbed one of her hands gingerly. "So you couldn't claw them?"

"I guess. It was that . . . spell or whatever that was making me keep shifting back and forth." She tried to flex her fingers experimentally, but the metal was too tight. "But they took your muzzle off, so I'm not sure why I still have my anti-murder mittens."

"A mere oversight, I assure you." The door remained closed, but a slight woman suddenly appeared just inside it. Her hair and her skin were almost the same shade of golden white aside from a few braids that had been dyed spring-leaf green. She looked like she was born to wear flowing, ethereal robes, but was in fact dressed quite plainly, in black yoga pants and a matching tank top. If not for her eerie, elfin looks, she could have been any suburban mom on her way to pick her child up from karate class. Before Becky could try to move, the woman knelt in front of her and squeezed each of the metal mittens, as if testing a melon for ripeness at the grocery store. The cuffs melted away, running up the woman's dainty hands and re-forming as gauntlets around her forearms. "My apologies. Even criminals deserve to be treated with basic dignity."

"Criminals?'" Paige glared up at the woman. "What did we supposedly do?"

Becky thought back to when they were taken. Not long before, Dean had made some quip about guys who looked like they served subpoenas; maybe he wasn't far off. "And who are you?"

"I am The Reeve," the woman said simply, sitting calmly in front of them. Becky couldn't get a feel of what her powers were, but they had to be substantial if she wasn't afraid to sit within reach of a vampire and a werewolf at the same time; normally being around just _one_ of the predatory supernaturals was enough for most people to handle, let alone two.

"Is that your position," Becky asked, "or your name?"

The Reeve kept smiling serenely. "Both, by your reckoning, I imagine. Others will address me differently, because to them I am different. To you, I will be The Reeve."

Paige narrowed her eyes. "Can we get back to the _criminals_ part? What did we supposedly do? If we're supposed to be treated with 'basic dignity'," she added with more than a note of sarcasm, "shouldn't we get to know the accusations against us?"

"Transgressions," The Reeve said simply. "The Tribunal will be assembled by the end of the week to hear of your crimes and pass judgement."

"Glad someone gets to know," Paige snapped, "because I sure as hell don't!"

The Reeve rose smoothly, but her smile had taken on a snide edge. "You, vampire, who chooses to be known as Paige, have taken blood from another supernatural and given it in return. If deemed guilty, you will be left out in the sun unprotected to burn. And you, werewolf who chooses to be known as Becky Lynch, have used vampire blood to suppress your wolf. If deemed guilty, you will be forced to shift and enchanted to remain in your wolf state forevermore." The Reeve cleared her throat as if broaching an unpleasant topic. "Paige, you will be offered blood once a day until the trial. It is your choice whether to accept or refuse it, but know that refusal will mean you go without until the next offering. Becky, since the full moon is not upon you, you do not need to shift forms; any attempt to do so will be taken as an act of violence and treated as such. Someone will be by with your blood and food within the hour." Then there was a small pop, and The Reeve vanished.

"Transgressions?" Becky repeated the word incredulously. "What is she talking about? Vampire blood can help suppress a werewolf's shift. That's part of your magic." She glanced over at Paige for confirmation, but the vampire was studiously smoothing out her shirt. "Isn't it?"

"It is _now_ ," Paige replied, forcing herself to meet Becky's gaze slowly. "The part about drinking another supernatural's blood is one of those 'gotcha' laws. Hardly anyone enforces it, but they'll use it to snag you when they can't make anything else stick, you know? As for giving our blood to others. . . ."

Becky was still stuck on the first part. "What do you mean, 'It is _now_ '? I thought you said any vampire's blood would work."

Paige nodded awkwardly. "I did say that, but it was a . . . tiny fib." She pinched a breath of air between her thumb and forefinger. "I didn't figure you were too likely to run across many other vampires, so you probably wouldn't ever have a chance to test the theory—or maybe I just hoped you'd never need to. The predatory types seem to give each other a wide berth."

"So . . . what's different with your blood? How did it change? When?" Becky sat up straight, finally remembering her hands were free. After popping her knuckles so many times the sound even annoyed her, she concentrated on flexing her fingers. 

"I . . . can't answer everything," Paige began, reaching down to untie her boots. "Partly because I don't know all the details, but also because . . . because I promised."

Pressing her hands against the cool floor to stretch out the tendons, Becky frowned. "Because you promised? Promised who?" She tilted her head towards the door. "You heard The Reeve or whoever the hell she is. If this Tribunal finds you guilty, you're going to _burn_. I don't think any promise is worth that."

Paige's lips curved in a bittersweet smile. "It's not that simple, Bex." Her gaze roamed the high, impenetrable walls. "Because if I tell you, that implicates the person who did it, and you don't want them to suffer too."

Remembering how her friends had been frozen helplessly, recalling the pain that scoured her from head to toe, Becky wasn't so sure. Anyone powerful enough to change the nature of a supernatural's essence should have had the decency to explain the dangers. "And what exactly am I going to do with a name?" She gestured at the walls around them. "I can hardly pay them a visit, can I?"

"Bex, it was meant to be a gift. A fix." Paige's expression was simply sad now, and she rubbed at her eyes. "The binding was never meant to hurt either of us."

"Binding?" Becky perked up a bit, curious. "You said _binding_ , not _a spell_. So it's not a witch then?"

Paige leaned forward and kissed Becky's cheek. "Bex, please. Let it go. Knowing won't help you. You told me to stop wasting my energy on the spell-studs. Well, I'm asking you to quit wasting your energy on this. We need to concentrate on finding a way out of here."

"It might not help," Becky retorted, rising to her feet and stalking over to a window. "But it would make me feel better." The windows were up too high for either of them to reach, and were blocked with both physical bars and magical restraints that Becky could sense even just from reaching up the wall.

"It won't. It really won't. Look." At Paige's behest, Becky looked back to see the vampire's bare feet, extra pale against the dark stones. Around her left ankle were thick, ropy scars. "I usually use magic to cover these up, but there's no point now. That's your binding."

Becky never spent much time thinking about her ankles, but she would have noticed such a distinctive scar on herself. "I don't have that."

Paige shook her head. "Because it was my nature that was altered, not yours. He said it was easier, that it would take better. Werewolf magic is chaotic."

"He?" Becky heard the rest, but her brain snagged on the pronoun. It chipped away at a wall in her memories, a mental room of vague images and half-heard words. "He _who?_ "

Looking up at the ceiling, Paige swore and shook her head. "I'd say he's going to kill me, but at this rate he won't get the chance. You need to know, Becky, that he did it completely out of love, okay? He only ever wanted to help. He wasn't sure it would work, but we both thought it was worth the chance."

" _Who?_ " Becky tried to think of people they had in common, men who had an undeniable air of magic about them.

Paige gave her a look like a parent having to tell their child the truth about Santa Claus. "Finn. It was Finn. You didn't think The Demon was just a persona, did you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Covering up one vague, unplanned absence was bad enough. Trying to account for two—especially from the women's division, which was already small—was a definite challenge. Luckily it was well known that Paige and Becky had a long history, so Roman had gone to the McMahons and said that Becky had a family emergency and was so distraught that Paige flew back to Ireland with her. Paige's family were too well known—any tragedy involving them would have already made the news—but Becky's family was far more low-key, so it would take a while for the truth to be revealed. "I don't see why I was nominated to do that," Roman groused when he rejoined the others after leaving the office. 

"Because you're the biggest _and_ the most diplomatic," Bayley pointed out. "I probably would have blurted out that Becky's a werewolf, and I don't know if she's told Hunter and Steph yet. She probably should, but that's her call."

"Speaking of calls," Sasha chimed in, "I called Charlotte and gave her a very vague version of what happened. I didn't want to say too much over the phone, obviously, but she knows Becky and Paige are missing and that we're talking to Finn about it."

Seth grimaced. "I hope you told her we don't think Finn's responsible. You know how protective she is where Becky's concerned." He knew he didn't have much room to talk in that regard, but they desperately needed answers. If Charlotte thought Finn was involved, she was probably at his house already, beating him senseless.

Sasha shot him an annoyed glare. "Of course I did. She knows we're on it and wants us to keep her updated. If Ric recovers enough, she said she'll join us as soon as she can."

They were fortunate in that Finn lived near the city where their next event was being held, but they wouldn't have time to see him before—and with two key women missing and Charlotte away as well, Sasha and Bayley absolutely had to appear. Roman sensed the anguished frustration emanating off Seth and he slung an arm around his shoulders. "First thing in the morning, man. I swear. Bright and early, we'll head over to Finn's place and get some answers." Much like when Sasha had called Charlotte, Roman hadn't wanted to say too much over the phone when he called Finn, so he simply said Becky was in trouble and asked if Finn would have time to speak to them tomorrow. He had agreed without hesitation, making them all feel a bit guilty for not finding a way to share all the details with him in advance. All they had was Paige's plea to contact him and then a few random words, and they couldn't even agree on those. Roman had compiled a master list from everyone's guesses, but it was still woefully small.

The morning couldn't come fast enough for Seth's liking. Sleeping without Becky beside him felt strange; having her cuddled up to his side was as much a part of sleeping as a pillow under his head. He kept tossing and turning all night, either having nightmares about the abduction itself or waking up with a start when he thought he heard Becky's voice. When he made his way downstairs for breakfast, Dean had taken one look at him and said, "You're not going anywhere near a steering wheel, my friend. You can sleep on the way." Rather than keep all their rooms, Roman rented his for an extra day and they had all stashed their bags there so they didn't have to shove them in the van as well.

The prospect of more sleep was welcome and Seth thought being around his friends, hearing their familiar voices, might help him relax, but the sight of the new group van Roman had rented to fit them all just brought back memories of the hike. "I'll take the back seat," Seth mumbled around a mouthful of waffle. No one had the heart to argue with him. He might not have thought he would get much rest, but as soon as he stretched out on the back bench seat, his eyes drifted shut and the steady rumble of the van lulled him into a light doze.

It was Bayley, reaching over the third row and gently nudging his shoulder, that ultimately woke him. "Hey," she said softly. "We're about five minutes away now. I thought you might want a bit of time to wake up before we got there." Then she handed him a cup of to-go coffee that was still decently hot.

Seth accepted the cup gratefully. "When did you guys stop?" he asked. He hadn't thought he was sleeping that deeply, and he was almost always woken up by the scent of coffee, even if it was bought from a gas station. This, mercifully, was at least from a chain cafe, so it was decent. "You could have woken me up before."

Bayley shook her head. "You needed the sleep. You had a rough night last night. I think we all did, but it's obviously different for you."

"You and Sasha are two of her closest friends, Bayley. It's just as hard for you." Seth drank almost half the coffee in one go and waited for the blessed caffeine to work its magic.

"I know. But it's still different." Then she gave him a shaky smile. "But she's tough. So is Paige. They're probably kicking some ass right now and breaking that tall dude's fingers, and then they'll . . . they'll find a phone and call us and be like _Hey, bitches, we rescued ourselves, but we need a ride. Come get us. And bring some coffee._ "

Seth didn't think that was very likely, but he didn't want to dampen Bayley's enthusiasm. She was trying so hard to have hope, to think of solutions, and he knew he needed to do the same. "And Paige will ask for sunglasses," Seth added, "because one of those assholes probably broke hers."

Bayley laughed. "Then they're absolutely done for!"

"We're here," Roman called back, and everyone else starting moving around, stretching out their legs and sitting up as they got ready to exit.

"He's got a nice place," Sasha remarked, pressing closer to the window. "I can see why he wants a part-timer's schedule. I would too if I had that pool."

The van seemed bigger without Becky and Paige in it, and not just because of the lack of their loud, distinct voices. The six remaining friends piled out of the group van and Renee held out a bag to Seth for his cup. He finished the last of his coffee and dropped it in, taking a deep breath of fresh air. He was so used to going with Becky on her runs—even just on scouting trips—that he had started exercising more outside when he could, amazed by how much better his lungs felt afterwards. "Nice place, Balor," Seth called out when Finn opened a side gate that led to the pool area. Judging from the ripples dying down in the pool, Finn had just been doing laps.

"Thanks." When a woman stepped out onto the patio, Finn's smile grew even warmer and wider. "You all know my wife. . . ."

Bayley waved with most of her usual cheeriness. "Hi, Vero! Nice to see you!"

"You too, Bayley, always." Vero came up to Finn's side and wrapped her arms around his waist. "So what happened to Becky? Finn wouldn't tell me." She glared up at her husband and slapped his arm lightly in reproof.

"To Becky and Paige, technically." Roman glanced around. Houses were spaced far apart in Finn's neighbourhood, and even Becky would probably have problems eavesdropping on the neighbours, but Roman still wanted to be sure. "Um, maybe we should talk inside," he suggested.

Finn gestured to an array of deck chairs beside the pool. "It's fine out here, I promise." He held Roman's gaze and gave him a meaningful nod. "Fresh air might help." Then he turned to Vero and kissed her cheek. "I won't be long—"

Vero frowned up at him. "I'm staying," she insisted. "Why can't I stay? It's about Becky. She's like your sister. She's my friend. If she needs help, I want to help."

Finn's gaze skittered over to Seth next. "There's . . . more to it than that, I'm afraid. And even if I could vouch for Becky, it's not my place to be telling Paige's secrets."

"Who am I going to tell? No one! I adore Becky, you know that. I would never do anything to hurt her." Vero planted herself on one of the lounge chairs. "I'm staying, and I want to help."

_We've wasted enough time already,_ Seth wanted to say, but he bit it back. He had advocated telling Finn over the phone so they could get the process started sooner, but everyone else had thought that it was too risky. "It's important, Finn. It's bad. If you want to help, Vero, and you promise not to tell anyone. . . ."

Vero held a hand over her heart. "I'm sworn to secrecy. Now come and sit and tell us. If it's important, we need to get working quickly, right?"

Realizing he was overruled, Finn sighed and dragged over a large cooler. "Just water," he said by way of apology. "But I can run inside and get—"

Roman shook his head politely. "No, thank you. We've already lost a day. Um, if we're going to discuss things, Vero will need to know about Becky's . . . nature. Is that—"

"That's she's a werewolf?" Vero gave a blase shrug, as if Roman had just said that Becky was a wrestler. "Yes, yes, I know. She and Finn told me back when Finn and I got serious."

"Oh. Okay." Seth had expected more surprise, but at least it would make the rest of their story easier. "Do you know about Paige as well?" When Vero nodded and mimed vampire fangs, he picked a seat and sat down. Sasha slipped off her shoes and sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet in, while the others all chose chairs. "Well, we were all out on a hike the day before—yes, we got Paige out in the sun," he added with a small chuckle. "And we had stopped for a picnic, and two men approached." His hands started to shake then, all the nightmares slowly resurfacing.

Bayley patted his leg and took up the story on his behalf. "They looked normal. We thought they wanted directions or whatever. But then they did . . . something, and it made Becky and Paige start freaking out."

"And then they froze us in place," Renee added, "and put a muzzle on Paige and weird metal hand coverings on Becky and took them away while we couldn't move. Seth and Roman tried running after them, but they were long gone."

Finn looked stricken, his eyes wide and unseeing. "Taken," he murmured, sinking down beside Vero. "Both of them, taken. Shit." Then he covered his face with his hands.

"At least it's not creepy human scientists wanting to replicate supernatural powers, right?" Dean suggested. "Because those dudes were pretty out there themselves. . . ." He trailed off when Renee gave him a gentle nudge. 

Roman pulled his phone out of his pocket and brought up the list of words. "While she could still talk, Paige hollered out to call you. And then she got out two other words, but we're not quite sure what they were. The first was something like _hello_ or _helo_ —for _helicopter_ , maybe—or _hollow_ or _halo_. The second was something like _rivers_ or _reverb_ or _revert_ or _reverse_."

"I thought it was _hell rivers_ ," Bayley said, "but between the panic and Paige's accent. . . ."

Vero sat up and hugged Finn from behind, arms wrapping around his middle like a corset. "Finn, what is it?" Then she kissed his shoulder gently. "You can tell us. We all just want to help Becky and Paige."

"So did I." Finn grabbed one of Vero's hands and brought it to his mouth, kissing it.

Roman's brow furrowed. "What does that mean? Did those words make sense to you?"

Finn nodded. " _Halo in Reverse_. That's what Paige called the binding. It was from a Depeche Mode song she likes. _You wear guilt/ Like shackles on your feet/ Like a halo in reverse_."

"Binding?" Seth grabbed a bottle from the cooler, mostly to have something to do with his hands. "Don't tell me you're something too."

"Finn," Vero urged, resting her chin on his shoulder, "you should tell them. This isn't the time for secrets or for shame. What's done is done. Now we need to focus on what we have to do to get Becky and Paige back safely."

Finn covered Vero's arms with his and bowed his head. "You all know how Becky and I met. She came to my wrestling school when she was fifteen—though she lied about her age at the time. She was awful, but she loved it. She's probably told you a version of how I learned she was a werewolf. I doubt it's the truth, but that's her story and she gets to decide whether she tells the true one or the embellished one. Suffice to say, I knew—and I also knew how difficult it was going to be for her to wrestle while dealing with being a werewolf, especially if she went overseas alone, without a pack. I also knew Paige was a vampire and that they were friends, so I did some looking around—"

"Looking around how? Where? The Supernatural Library?" Dean asked. "I doubt this kind of stuff is just on the shelf right next to _Weaving for Dummies_."

"Finn, _tell them_." Vero's voice was firmer now, and she pulled her arms away so she could turn Finn around to face her. "I know I promised to keep your secret just as I keep Becky's, but this is important. Someone bad has them, right?"

Finn nodded morosely, pressing his fists into his thighs. "The equivalent of supernatural Interpol, I guess you could say. And while that might sound reassuring, it's not. They rely on most supernaturals to police themselves and each other. When they take action, it's serious."

Roman spread his hands wide. "What could Becky have done? Or Paige? Becky's always been very responsible on her full-moon nights, and Paige must have been discreet with her feedings, because none of us even thought something was up until she told us she was a vampire. Becky would never want to jeopardize her family's safety and I'm sure Paige wouldn't want to endanger her family either."

"The binding," Finn said at last. "It's forbidden. Vampires aren't supposed to give their blood to other supernaturals because it can have strange side effects, and other species aren't supposed to take it because it can alter their genes and thus dilute the species. It's also considered disrespectful for a werewolf to try suppressing their shift, but that tends to be an additional charge, not a main offence."

"So many damn rules," Dean said, shaking his head. "What's the point of being some otherworldly bad-ass if you have to reference a rule book every time you breathe?"

Shrugging, Finn took a moment to refocus. "When I knew Becky and Paige would be in WWE together, I thought a binding would be a way to help Becky keep wrestling." He rested his head against Vero's for a long moment. "You don't understand. You didn't know her then, but back when she was injured and thought she couldn't wrestle . . . it almost destroyed her. I couldn't bear to see her go through that again."

"So what did you do?" Seth paused and opened his water, gulping some down to help with his resolve. "And how did you do it? Are you a wizard or something?"

Finn laughed, but it was more desperate than amused. "You ever hear of _hiding in plain sight_ , Rollins? Before I reverted to my Prince persona, who was I in WWE?"

"The Demon." As soon as Bayley said it, she yelped and covered her mouth with both hands. " _No._ You're not. You're _not!_ We've travelled together. Wrestled together. Ate pizza together."

A wistful smile twisted Finn's lips. "Demons need to eat too, you know, and human food is as good as any. I kept the Demon persona until I knew the binding was secure; if it failed, then Becky could have used me as an anchor. As soon as her bond with Paige was reliable, I just . . . monitored things."

"Demon?" Dean was still blinking. "What the fucking hell, man? How many _humans_ are there in the company?"

"Most of the people are, Dean. There are very few supernaturals in WWE, and most of those work in Creative and in management. Wrestling is too risky for most of us," Finn admitted, "but for those of us that caught the bug, we do our best to find a way."

"Demon. Wow." Renee's confusion was shared by all of them. "But . . . how do you . . . and you've . . . and _you're married_."

Vero embraced him again, kissing Finn's cheek. "He told me when we started to get serious."

"Speak for yourself," Finn retorted with a small grin. "I never would have told you if I weren't already _really_ serious. It's not exactly the type of information you can put on a dating app."

Bayley looked half horrified, half enthralled. "So what did you do? Did you have . . . a ritual circle or something and candles and all that?"

Finn shook her head. "That's all for show, mostly."

"Lies," Vero piped up. "He had a permanent circle installed before we moved in."

"It might help some people focus," Finn allowed, rolling his eyes at his wife, "but it's not necessary. Let's go inside. I might be able to trace them using remnants of the binding."

"Finn." Sasha piped up for the first time since they arrived, pulling her legs out of the pool and drying them on a nearby towel. "You said those guys were some sort of magic cops and that the binding is illegal. So if they came for Becky and Paige, why aren't they coming for you? You're the one who did the binding. From the sounds of it, Becky and Paige wouldn't have even known it was a possibility unless you had told them."

"Even amongst supernatural species, demons are . . . reviled, to put it mildly. We aren't trusted, and the others generally avoid us. I'm sure The Tribunal would love to have at me, but they're scared." Finn's gaze dropped. "That means that whatever they're doing, they're probably doing it soon. They probably didn't bargain on all of you knowing what Becky and Paige are, or on Paige saying to contact me. They were probably hoping to get them and . . . punish them before I even knew what was going on." He stood abruptly and headed for the entrance into the house.

"By _punish_ ," Dean said grimly, "I'm guessing you don't mean _five years in jail_." He held Renee close to him as they rose to follow Finn.

Finn shook his head. "Hardly. For vampires, the standard punishment for a crime is a sunbath—which isn't as relaxing as the human version. For werewolves, they can get a little more creative. Sometimes they strip you of one form, leaving you in the other forever. It . . . might not sound like much of a punishment, but when you're used to a dual nature, it feels like your soul's been shattered. Or they can make you—" He stopped when he glanced over at Seth, who had gone pale. "The quicker we can find them, the better. They've likely been taken to England, though, so I'm not exactly sure how we're going to tell the bosses that we all suddenly need to visit the UK at the same time. . . ."

"I told the McMahons that Becky had a family emergency and Paige went with her for moral support," Roman said, "but that won't cover the rest of us. We don't have another event until Friday, so that gives us a few days, at least."

"Like I said, they're not the type to waste time. If we can't get them back by Friday," Finn replied, voice stark, "we won't be getting them back at all." Then he looked around at the group. "I appreciate that you all care about Becky and Paige so much, but there's really not much you'll be able to do. It might be better if most of you stay behind. Then it will look less suspicious and it might make The Tribunal take longer to realize I know."

Everyone wanted to help, but they also realized that Finn was right; the way they could help the most might be by staying out of the way. Renee raised a hand first. "I love Bex, you know I do. But it will probably look odd if both Dean and I are missing. I can stay back and haunt the hashtags in social media, see if anyone's talking about Becky and Paige being missing or anything like that." That Dean would stay with her went unspoken. 

"I'm going," Seth said flatly. Friday could come and go for all he cared, and WWE could set his contract on fire and burn down his house with it, but he was going to do everything he could to help Becky. Sasha and Bayley might have had more of a claim, but there was no way he could just stay at home and do nothing.

Instead of looking at Finn, Roman walked over to Seth. "What do you want me to do? If you want me there, I'm there. If you think I can be more help here, I'll stay back."

"I hate to say it," Renee interjected, "but Sasha and Bayley almost have to stay. With Charlotte out and Paige and Becky gone, the women's division needs all the wrestlers it can get."

Sasha hugged Bayley tightly. "I know you want to go help, Bayley. I do too. But if we keep things steady here, we're making sure Becky has something to come back to. We can feed Hunter and Steph fake texts about her family emergency—"

"Speaking of, we should think of something to tell her family too," Roman added, "or at the very least, contact them to let them know we used them as an excuse on the off chance that one of the McMahons tries to get in touch. If Hunter or Steph calls and her mother has no idea what's going on, we're going to be dealing with trouble on multiple fronts." Then he nudged Seth again. "So what's it to be, uce? Do you want me to go along or to hang back? Wherever you need me, I'm there."

Seth wanted all his friends there. He felt like he was falling apart at the seams and needed them to hold him together, but he knew that wouldn't work. It made more sense for most of them to stay behind, keep things as normal as possible so their bosses and the media didn't complicate things even more. "Stay here, man. You've got your family to worry about," Seth said at last, "and the McMahons trust you. You won't be able to hold them off forever, but they're more likely to believe you than me."

Vero tugged on Finn's arm. "I'll stay here too. Otherwise you'll be too busy worrying about me when you should be concentrating on Becky and Paige. The wards will keep me safe while you're gone."

"Wards?" Dean looked around curiously. "We didn't get bug-zapped when we came in."

Smiling, Vero pointed to all the plant pots scattered around the fence line. "Portable wards. Finn has guarded the entire house. That's why he wasn't worried about talking to you outside." Then she motioned to the door. "Why don't we all go in?" she suggested. "Finn can take Seth and . . . explain things more, and we can coordinate cover stores—and when that's done, I can regale you with tales about dating a demon."

"Have you ever thought about writing a romance novel?" Renee quipped. "Because _Tales About Dating a Demon_ would probably sell really well."

Finn shut his eyes. "Please don't give her ideas. C'mon, Seth. Follow me. I don't think I have much left from the binding," he admitted, "and blood doesn't keep well, but hopefully we'll get a hint. Otherwise we'll just have to fly to England. I'll get a better read once I'm on the same soil." While Vero led the others into a large sitting room, Finn directed Seth to a descending staircase. "Hope you have your passport handy."

"Always do." Seth paused. "But what if you're wrong and they're not in the UK?"

Finn's gaze was bleak. "Then we have to hope The Tribunal gets delayed so we can plan. The more time we have, the more time Becky and Paige have."

"Lead the way." Every second suddenly seemed precious, and Seth didn't want to waste a single one.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: blood drinking (and the opening of a wound to facilitate it). If you need more info, let me know.

"Just take it, Bex." The blood dripped down Paige's hand, pooling in her palm and twining around her fingers like satin ribbons. "The wound's going to close up soon, and you like cold blood about as much as I do, so don't waste it."

Becky did her best to avert her gaze. It wasn't like she had developed some sort of vampiric thirst for blood over the years thanks to Paige, but she had to admit she did have a reflexive response now. Paige's blood equalled peace; it meant freedom and a quick fix if she had forgotten the full moon and the security of knowing that no matter how badly she fucked up, there was always an option to try. It had never occurred to her to question the costs of that option, though. She'd always assumed any vampire's blood would have the same effect as Paige's. "No, Paige. You're already here because of me. In trouble because of me. Going to . . . going to burn because of me. I'm not going to give them proof for their accusations." Rolling onto her back, Becky gazed up at the high ceiling and then along the walls, but she couldn't see any obvious cameras or other monitoring devices. _There must be some,_ she reasoned. You didn't keep two prisoners in the same cell unless you wanted them to talk.

"You think proof matters to these people?" Paige's laugh had a bitter edge. "Bex, they'll do whatever they want just because they can. They aren't going to fuss about justifying it. Why would they? No one's coming to save us. So if I'm going to burn and you're going to be body-bound, why not at least be comfortable for our last days? They've already condemned us; it's just a matter of a formal meeting. So what do we have to lose?" Her voice hardened a bit as she added, "I could force you, you know. I don't want to and for the record, I never have. Ever. Unless you had already asked for some blood and then passed out."

Becky was adamant, though, and she shook her head, sitting bolt upright when Paige inched closer. "No, Paige. I appreciate the offer, but . . . Finn shouldn't have done that to you. If I had known you were forced to do it. I never would have accepted your blood in the first place." Thinking of how many times Paige's blood had saved her from near disaster, Becky felt ill. Even when she was desperately broke, she had never exploited her friends' generosity and she was proud of that fact, so to learn that she had taken advantage of Paige's blood was particularly galling. 

"Forced? Baby girl, where did you get _forced_ out of all of that?" Sighing, Paige started licking her blood off her hand and forearm and sat at Becky's side. "Yes, Finn approached me about the binding because he knew I was a vampire—and that you were a werewolf. He had been doing some research and found that vampire blood could be a particularly powerful binding agent. There's some chemical in our blood that keeps us . . . functionally immortal, or whatever the new term is. It basically sees aging as a disease and tries to heal the cells, I guess. Anyway, Finn though that vampire blood in a werewolf body might keep the wolf separate from the human."

Feeling her stomach lurch again, Becky turned to Paige. If they only had days left to live, she couldn't afford to spend them angry at one of her oldest friends. "Please don't tell me that he experimented on another werewolf first to see if it would work."

"He didn't," Paige assured her. "He consulted . . . other demons. He didn't say who, and I didn't ask. You know I'm all about the spooky shit, but real demons are a completely different story."

"So why didn't he ask _me?_ " It was selfish and Becky knew it, but one of the things that stung the most was that Finn would attempt such a massive undertaking and not even talk to her about it: he didn't ask her if she wanted it or explain the risks or rewards or, most notably, even mention that he was a demon. 

"Baby girl." Paige wrapped her arms around Becky and squeezed. "You know he loves you. He loves you so much. He calls you his sister. He knows how much wrestling means to you, and so do I. The idea that you would have to give it up because it wouldn't be safe for you as a werewolf? Neither of us could bear that. He didn't force me at all. If I'm going to a fiery grave and you're going to have dog breath for the rest of your days, at least know that. All the risks affected either me or Finn. He explained the ins and outs to me, and it was entirely my decision. I made it then, and I would make the same one today, Bex. That try-hard Reeve bitch could be there and have all the damn Tribunal assholes she wanted, and I would still do it right in front of them."

"You showed me your ankle." Becky raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell me that didn't hurt."

Paige simply shrugged. "No more than a tattoo, and it was for a much better cause."

"I just can't fathom that Finn's a demon—an _actual_ demon—and I never knew." Becky shook her head in disbelief. "You'd think there would be . . . I don't know. An energy or something. A scent."

"Of what? Brimstone?" Paige ruffled Becky's very mussed hair. It was their second day in the cell and while they were being treated very well, they were still prisoners. They were fed and given clean clothes and an opportunity to shower, all with minimal or no supervision—which meant the building itself was its own security. "If it's any consolation, I didn't know either, and vampires are probably closer to being demons than werewolves are."

"I don't know about that. Are hell-hounds actually a thing," Becky asked, "or was that just something my nan told all the young ones to keep us in line?"

"Probably a cautionary tale. Let's hope we never find out. I tried calling out to the others when we were taking, but I don't know how much sense I made." Then the vampire held out her hand again. "Please, Bex. I know there's no full moon to worry about, but the stress is going to get to you, and if you wolf out, they're going to take it as an act of aggression."

Becky snorted, mostly to hide her sniffle. She had always considered her friends a second pack, but hearing what Finn and Paige had done in hopes of keeping her safe made her realize just how deep the bond was going both ways. "Bloody right it would be an act of aggression." But ultimately she nodded. If it had just been her in the cell, she would have tried to fight her way free regardless of the risks, but she wouldn't jeopardize Paige. "Maybe I can convince them to just punish me instead of both of us," she said as Paige started to reopen the wound on her wrist. "You could say that Finn coerced you." Becky's train of thought stopped so quickly, it felt like getting her head slammed against a wrestling mat. "Wait. Are they going to go after Finn too?"

"Regrettably not." The Reeve seemed to enter the cell on a beam of sunlight, once again at odds with her yoga-mom attire. Secretly, Becky had to admit she liked her leggings. "Demons are outside our purview, and even if they weren't, they're rarely worth the hassle."

"Translation: they can't do fuck all to him," Paige replied. Becky thought the vampire might retract her offer of blood now that they had company, but Paige got her wound bleeding again and held it out to the werewolf, holding The Reeve's gaze the entire time. "Thankfully I doubt the opposite is true. They'd better hope they don't have to deal with Finn. If you thought the in-ring version of The Demon is a terror, wait until you see the real one."

Becky's thoughts took another turn, but this one was mercifully more gradual. "We were with our friends when we were taken." Part of her didn't want to bring it up, didn't even want to entertain the possibility, but she had to ask. "They aren't involved. I didn't even know about Paige's binding until we were brought here. . . ." 

The Reeve's expression was oddly tender. "Humans rarely fall under our purview either, Becky. Your friends are fine. They were frozen for their own safety, so they couldn't get any delusions of heroism and try to defend you. Once you were both secured and removed from the area, they were released. What happened to them after that, I cannot say."

She had no reason to believe The Reeve, but for some reason Becky did. Glancing over at Paige, she saw that the vampire seemed to agree. Maybe it was only because these people would think humans were beneath them and thus not worthy of their time, but if it meant that her friends were safe, Becky would be happy to let them keep their antiquated notions. Keeping her gaze on The Reeve, Becky lowered her head to Paige's wrist and lapped up some blood. Since she wasn't trying to stave off a full moon, she didn't need much. "And if they try to find us?" Becky asked, licking her lips clean. Paige raised her bleeding wrist to her mouth and pressed her tongue to the wound, holding The Reeve's gaze like a challenge.

"They will fail," The Reeve said confidently. "But if they try to interfere in supernatural matters, that would fall under our jurisdiction and thus they would be subject to our laws—and punishments." She looked pointedly at Becky as she said the last. "Paige, was your blood satisfactory yesterday ?"

"It was delicious. Twenty-something university student with a hint of ennui and homesickness drowned in vodka? It's like you know me." Paige smirked, the blood at the corners of her mouth extending the expression as she leaned back. The Reeve vanished into the sunbeam and Paige rolled her eyes. "There's a perfectly good door right there, bitch!"

"Must be for the riffraff." Becky stretched out on the floor again. "She didn't mention anything about The Tribunal. Not sure if that's a good thing or not."

Paige curled up beside her. "Let's go with good for now. And Bex? Do me a favour?

Becky glanced to the side. "I'm a little limited here, but I'll do what I can."

"When they put me out in the sun to burn," Paige said, voice holding the slightest tremor, "make sure I'm naked. I'll burn faster for starters, so it shouldn't hurt as much. At least not in theory." Then she pointed to her chest. "And these babies were expensive. If they're gonna go, I want them to go in style. Maybe they'll explode and spray everyone with silicone. Revenge of the titties."

"I'm going to keep hoping it doesn't come to that." But Becky knew hope was in short supply, so she was going to save it for the things that mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: blood magic performed by a demon, including drawing his own blood from a small wound. If you need more info, let me know.

"Stonehenge?" It was probably too obvious, but when Seth thought of rituals, he thought of circles, and when he thought of England and circles, he thought of Stonehenge.

Finn shot him a dark look, no mean feat with those piercing blue eyes of his. "Using a major tourist attraction as a ritual site would be the epitome of _hiding in plain sight_ , so I wouldn't put it past them, but no. And before you ask, no, it's not at Avebury either. It won't be at any of the well-known stone circles. The risk of exposure there would be too great.."

Seth glanced around the landscape. They had landed in London a few hours ago, Finn passing most of the flight in a sleep-like trance Seth hadn't dared to interrupt. When Finn rented a car, there was no question about who was going to drive: Finn was more accustomed to the vehicles and the laws, and had a much better sense of where he was going. Seth was equally well travelled, but in the more general sense: WWE sent them all over the world, but the wrestlers rarely got enough time to enjoy the cities they were performing in. "So where are we going then?"

"North," Finn replied simply.

Since most of England was north of London, that didn't clarify much, but Seth didn't argue. Finn was his best chance at helping Becky, and that was the priority. "Can you . . . tell me more about Becky?" he asked haltingly. He and Becky had known each other for years before they started sleeping together, but it felt like there was so much he didn't know about her. "No secrets or anything, of course; I'm not looking to pry."

Finn glanced over at him and smiled. "Don't feel dumb for not realizing she's a werewolf, Seth. The fact that she was able to keep it a secret from you for so long when you two were so close—even as friends—is a testament to how hard she worked at it. Until you knew she was a werewolf, did you even notice how she would conveniently go off on her own on a full moon? Probably not. Did you ever notice how she could be utterly wiped, but after spending a couple hours with Paige, she was back to her normal self? Doubt it. Everything you didn't notice shows you how good she is—how good she needed to be in order to keep her dream alive. I never wanted her to get in trouble for the Demon's Halo, but that's on me. If I could do another binding that would keep her safe without consequences like these, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"I . . . I didn't mean—" Seth grabbed his travel cup of coffee and brought it to his mouth before he could say anything else that was stupid. "I meant stories of when she was young, when you trained her, that sort of thing."

"Ah." Finn softened somewhat. "She was horrible. God, she was a wreck at the start, but you could tell she loved it. Wrestling isn't something you go into half-assed; you have to want it. Some of the other kids in her class were there because they saw it on TV and thought it looked cool. They wanted to be like the Hardys or whatever, but it was fleeting. And even then, even with her being god-awful, I saw a spark in her. Part of it was her being a werewolf, but mostly it was just her."

"Were you a demon then too," Seth asked, "or did that come about later?" Becky had never mentioned demons, so all he knew was from movies and books, which he doubted were very accurate at all.

Finn's shoulders tensed a bit and his fingers curled around the steering wheel. "I thought we were talking about Becky."

"We are, but. . . ." Seth gave up and shrugged. "Man, you have to realize you can't just tell people you're a fucking _demon_ and not expect them to be curious."

"I generally don't tell people for that very reason. The only reason you know is for Becky's sake. I'll say this much: I've been a demon longer than you've known me." Then Finn suddenly turned onto an off ramp and started heading to what looked like a small castle. "We'll be stopping over there," he announced, pointing to the old stone building.

It couldn't be that easy. The flight across the Atlantic felt like it had taken forever, but Seth was expecting some epic trek through England's wilderness, not a rental car from Heathrow and a bit of driving. "This doesn't seem very remote," he said, seeing farms and a small village in the distance. People like the ones who took Becky and Paige probably didn't care much about human casualties, but they would also want to avoid attention. Castles were a beacon for tourists, at least North American ones who weren't accustomed to old architecture.

"I don't need remoteness to do a trace," Finn replied. "I just need a church."

Seth burst out laughing. "Is this the set up for a joke? _A demon walks into a church. . . ._ "

Slowing down to turn, Finn glanced over at Seth and raised an eyebrow. "I know you're an atheist or whatever you want to call yourself, but surely even you know that there's a grand tradition of building your temple—church, mosque, whatever—on the site of the religion you're trying to replace. Not only does it show superiority, but it's also an acknowledgement of the power of the site. Helps the local heathens adapt quicker. This used to be a pagan site in the Viking era and it probably had a stone circle of its own, at one time, but the local farmers likely took the stones to make their fences. Better use, if you ask me."

As they got nearer, even Seth had to admit the church was beautiful. It was more ruin than anything, but that only seemed to add to the allure. "And this _isn't_ a tourist attraction? I'd be all over this."

Finn shrugged. "It's not like Whitby Abbey, with its whole Dracula tie-in mystique. There are so many ruins across England and Ireland and Scotland that they blend in with the scenery after a while. The government protects them and provides some funding and all, but unless they have a big story attached, usually it's only locals or avid historians who give a shit." He pulled off onto a dirt road and stopped in front of the church. "The locals do the upkeep in exchange for lower property taxes, and kids probably dare each other with ghost stories, but otherwise, no one much bothers with this place."

Seth watched Finn as the demon got out of the car, grabbed one of his bags from the trunk, and walked around. There was a tiny graveyard at the side of the church, but most of the stones were tilted or falling, looking like rows of broken, jagged teeth. There were no windowsleft , but Seth guessed from the general style of the building that they would have been simple stained glass, not the type with elaborate imagery. "So the whole _holy ground_ thing doesn't bother you?"

In reply, Finn walked right up the crumbling stairs. "Want to get a quick prayer in while I'm doing the trace? I'll keep your secret, I promise."

Part of Seth did want to go in, just to see that surreal blend of delicate beauty and steady decay that lent an air of beauty to most of the ruins he had seen, but he knew they were there for a purpose, not a photo opportunity. "I'm good, thanks. Can I help with the trace, or. . . ?"

"Just keep an eye out for anyone incoming. Shouldn't be a problem," Finn added, "but you know how small town people can be. The instant they see a new person or a strange car, they have to check it out." Finn kept walking to the rear of the church, which was almost utterly destroyed, and found a spot that was mostly blocked from view by the remains of the wall. 

"Can I watch?" Seth wasn't sure he should ask. Asking if he could watch Becky shift had led to some awkwardness, but that was different; it involved nakedness—not that he hadn't already seen her nude by that point, but the context mattered—and a gut-wrenching transformation. He had no idea what was involved with a demonic trace; maybe he _wouldn't_ want to be in the vicinity.

"As long as you're keeping an eye out for visitors, I don't care." Finn set his bag down and pulled out a small black bowl. Then he tore some tufts of dry grass from the ground and sprinkled them inside. He cut himself next, just a prick on the finger, and let a few drops of blood fall into the bowl. He didn't have much of Becky's blood left, but he had brought a tiny vial along and carefully released one small drop onto the gathered grass. Once the vial was sealed again and safely tucked away, Finn snapped his fingers twice in quick succession and then spread his hand as if releasing something to the wind.

The grass in the bowl started to burn, pale blue-grey smoke rising in plumes that spread out horizontally rather than vertically. As if leading the smoke in a dance, Finn moved in and out of the curls, coaxing them into a rough circle as he chanted something in a language Seth couldn't place. It sounded vaguely Irish, but like an older version, one untainted by external influences. Even though it was eerie, it was also strangely soothing, like a lullaby that was actually a cautionary tale wrapped in sweet words and high-pitched voices.

Seth made sure to divide his attention between the ritual and their surroundings. As interesting as the circle was, he didn't understand it, so he would be of more use to Becky if he made sure he and Finn were safe. When he saw a large cube van turn onto the church's road, he got ready to warn Finn, but the driver just ended up turning around and getting back on the main road.

"North." Finn's voice was a croak, and Seth turned around to see his friend's eyes gone completely white, smoke arching around his head like an elemental crown. "Old . . . castle. Sun to burn." Then he crashed to his knees, but it took another moment before his eyes returned to their piercing blue.

"Finn? You okay?" Seth knelt beside him, handing him his water bottle. The smoke had fled on the wind and there was nothing left in the bowl but a sprinkling of ash. 

"Yeah. There's supposed to be a Tribunal," Finn said at last, rubbing at his eyes, "but something doesn't feel right. We need to hurry." Then he dipped his fingers in the bowl and smudged the ashes over his eyelids like eyeshadow. "Come on. We're not too late yet."

That was all Seth needed to hear. He was running off adrenaline and hope, and the former was slowly fading away. He helped Finn clear all signs of his ritual before they returned to the car, and as soon as they were back on the road, Seth checked his text messages. Between roaming fees and international calls, his phone bill was probably going to be more than his electric bill, but he didn't care. If he had been one of the ones to stay behind, he knew he would have been anxiously waiting for updates, so he wanted to keep his friends in the loop as much as possible. Rather than attempt a group text and end up with a tangled thread of replies, he was sending identical texts to Sasha and Roman; Sasha could share with her fellow Horsewomen, while Roman would share with Dean and Renee. _Landed in London safely. Rented a car. (No, I'm not driving, Roman. Shut up.) Finn did a trace and now we're heading north._ He debated whether to add more. It would likely only make them worry unnecessarily, but he didn't want to hide things from them either. _Finn said there's supposed to be a Tribunal._ It probably wasn't supposed to be capitalized, but it sounded important. _But he also said it doesn't feel right, whatever that means._

Roman didn't reply right away, but Sasha did, and Seth realized he hadn't even looked at the difference in time zones; they wouldn't care if it was three in the morning if it meant they got news about Becky. _We wish we were there! If there's anything we can do to help, let us know. The McMahons are bitching about you and Becky being AWOL—muttering shit about power couples and all that. Don't know if Finn used demon magic or whatever, but no one's complaining about his absence._ Then there was another long lull before a second block of text came in. _No more weird guy sightings, so I guess they don't care that we saw them. Char's freaking out, so I'll call her later. Keep us posted!_

"Roman or Sasha?" Finn asked, glancing over and jerking a thumb at Seth's phone. The ashes on his eyelids should have made him look gaunt, but strangely it suited him.

"Sasha," Seth replied. "Roman's probably still sleeping. I forgot to calculate the time differences. Sasha said none of them have had any more run-ins with strange people, so that's good, right?"

Finn's expression didn't give much away. "They don't bother with humans too much unless the humans make a nuisance of themselves."

"Like we're going to," Seth replied. At an arch look from Finn, he amended, "Well, like I'm going to."

"Like we're hoping to." If Finn thought Seth didn't notice the change in wording, he was very wrong. "It'll be a few hours," Finn added, "so if you want to sleep, feel free. I won't have a problem staying awake on my own."

"Hey. Finn, we're going to find them," Seth insisted, shaking his friend's shoulder.

"Finding them won't be a problem." Finn focussed his steely gaze on the road ahead. "It's saving them that's going to be the hard part."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: blood/cutting for the purposes of magic. If you need more info, let me know.

Seth would freely admit he was one of the first people to bug the European wrestlers about their lack of knowledge of America, but he knew he was equally ignorant when it came to a lot of European things. For some reason he had assumed all castles were regarded as treasured relics and maintained by historical societies. Then he heard about millionaires randomly buying castles to live in. The ones with obvious historical connections tended to be saved from the real estate market, according to Finn, but others were open game since many of the titled families could no longer afford the upkeep unless they opened up their ancestral homes to paying visitors. "I just can't fathom being able to say _I live in a castle_ ," Seth said, watching the scenery speed by. "What would you give as your address?"

Finn just chuckled. "Well, good luck getting pizza delivery on game night." It was another one of those moments where it was all too easy for Seth to forget that he was sitting next to an actual demon. He had wrestled Finn countless times; they had gone through physio together, joking even when the pain brought tears to their eyes, and Seth had never once thought there was anything otherworldly about him. Of course, he had known Becky for years too and wouldn't have guessed she was a werewolf or that Paige was a vampire, so perhaps his sense of the supernatural was limited to pentacles on black t-shirts.

There was something about Finn's focus that was chilling, though, and Seth was grateful it wasn't aimed at him. "So is it . . . a citadel or something? I doubt they're going to just let us walk in."

Finn spared him the faintest glance. "They don't _let_ me do anything. As for you, it won't be safe for you inside." Then he shook his head, running a hand through his hair and mussing it up even more. "None of this is safe for you. You never should have come. I can handle this on my own. It will be safer that way."

Seth turned as far as his seat belt would allow. "I came to help Becky. That was the whole point."

"And if something happens to you and she loses control because of it and gets killed," Finn shot back, "then what was the point? The _point_ is to get Becky and Paige out safely. I'll talk with The Tribunal and offer to lift the binding. Unbreak the law, as it were. Maybe then they'll just give the girls a token punishment and let them go."

He knew he was out of his depth, but Seth was still trying to follow along. "But if you remove the binding, then Becky's back to where she was before. She won't have a safety net for the full moon. She can't just tell the McMahons that she can't fight at a pay-per-view because it lands on the full moon. Most of the time, she's happy to shift." Seth felt a flush tingling under his cheekbones, but he refused to give in to embarrassment. "It's not like she's always putting it off. But she needs the option."

"I don't disagree," Finn assured, turning onto a road that felt more like stone than asphalt or concrete to Seth; after a few hours of driving on increasingly narrower roads, Seth was recognizing their attributes more easily. "But the priority is to get her out alive. Worst case scenario, Becky can stop wrestling or move to another promotion that will give her more creative freedom, but she needs to be alive and well to wrestle at all. Let's focus on that."

"Does the binding have to be done with a vampire? Or even another supernatural?" Before Seth could stop himself, he added, "Could it be done with a human?"

Finn brought the car to a screeching halt, pulling it to the side of the road, and they were both lucky there was no other traffic on the narrow, dusty road. "Don't, Seth. _No_." He shook his head adamantly, drumming his hands on the steering wheel. "The binding is intense. It is _physical_ ; Paige feels the effects of it, good and bad, every single day. This isn't some . . . cute relationship milestone like giving her a key to your place or moving in together. It would connect you on a cellular level; your entire body—your entire _life_ —would change."

Seth wanted to argue that his entire life had already changed since Becky shared her secret with him, but the grave expression on Finn's face suggested it wouldn't go over well. "I understand that it's a major commitment, Finn. I'm asking if it's possible. Becky and I have been friends for years and . . . yes, we spent some of that hooking up. But no matter what, she will always be my friend. I will always look out for her."

"No matter what, eh?" Finn narrowed his eyes, and just like that, Seth was all too aware of his demon aspect. Aside from his tone and his gaze, nothing about Finn had visibly changed, but the energy in the car crackled like electricity, fiery and barbed. "Even if she dumps you? Even if you would propose and she says no? Even if she cheats on you? No matter what she did, you would always be willing to stand by her side? Because that's what the binding would mean. I'm not going to pop over and take it off one week because you're fighting and then put it back on three weeks later when you have your shit together. That's not how this works. It's going to be hard enough to take it off of Paige, and she's a supernatural."

_I'm not a child!_ Seth wanted to scream, but he knew it wouldn't solve anything. If he wanted to help Becky—and he did, with every ounce of his soul—he had to prove to Finn that he was up to the task. "I know it's a huge undertaking. And yes, all of those . . . things you mentioned would gut me, I'm not going to lie. But Becky's life and happiness are more important to me than my ego. So please answer my question: Could it be done with a human?"

Finn held his gaze for a long moment before manoeuvring the car back onto the road. "Theoretically, it's possible," he hedged. "Humans aren't complete supernatural nulls, so there is some magic there to bind to. But it would hurt—hurt like nothing you've known before, and there's no guarantee it will work. There were no guarantees with Paige either. And I won't do it without Becky's consent. Not again." His jaw had a surly set to it as he focussed on the road ahead. "She's already going to be upset when she learns what Paige and I did without her knowledge. I won't do that to her a second time."

That answered one of Seth's questions: clearly Becky _hadn't_ known at any stage of the binding. "You know she's not going to agree to put that burden on _anyone_. . . ."

"Then I'll respect that," Finn replied stiffly, knuckles going white around the steering wheel even though they were slowing down as they entered what to Seth was the definition of a 'bucolic valley', a phrase he had only ever encountered in books. "I should have asked her the first time. I should have discussed it with her first and then we could have talked to Paige together."

"Regrets aren't going to help her, Finn." Seth stayed silent for a few minutes while his ears adjusted to the change in elevation, but then another strange sensation swept in, filling his head with thoughts of running and trees . . . and full moons. "Is that her?" He sat bolt upright, leaning close to the windshield as if that would help him spot Becky amongst the trees. 

Finn shook his head, though he did shoot Seth a look of grudging respect. "No. Werewolf sentries. A lot of them. They're tracking us. Most humans will just get a general sense of unease, figure the castle is haunted, and turn back."

"Castle?" Seth had been so busy thinking about how to save Becky that he had completely missed the huge fortress up ahead. It wasn't a delicate spindly castle like Neuschwanstein or the castles from fairy tales; this looked like it had Viking influences, though Seth wasn't sure if the Vikings had ever made it this far inland. "How did I miss that?"

"Because they wanted you to," Finn chuckled. "Magic warding. If, by chance, a human manages to get all the way to the gate, they'd likely be killed on sight." He looked at Seth and winked. "You might be an exception, since you're my guest, but don't test their hospitality. It doesn't end in _happily ever after_ , believe me."

Seth glanced around, trying to spot any sign of werewolves—of _anyone_. No one seemed to be out on the expansive grounds, but he couldn't shake the feeling he got whenever Becky shifted. "These werewolves," he said slowly, "they aren't any of Becky's kin, are they?" He didn't want to think they would be involved with anyone who would kidnap and punish innocent supernaturals, but more than that, he had the feeling that Finn was going to create some mayhem and he didn't want any of Becky's family members to suffer the consequences.

Finn shook his head. "No. I've met a lot of her kin. I don't recognize any of these werewolves, but that's not saying much. They're more plentiful than vampires tend to be." He stopped the car about halfway to the castle gate and sighed. "I don't suppose you would stay in the car if I asked you to."

"Not even if you asked me nicely. Finn, I want to help. It's for Becky, and I love her." He always shivered a bit when he said that, simply because he had got to the point where he was so sure he wasn't going to feel that deeply about anyone again. Now that he had, he was going to do everything he could to keep her safe. "There must be something I can do."

Sighing, Finn grabbed a pen from the glove compartment and stuck it in his jeans pocket. "Stay behind me and _listen_. If I tell you to run back to the car," he added, handing the keys over to Seth, "you run to the car, you get in, you lock it, and you leave. Understood?"

"Yes." There was a difference between understanding and agreeing to obey, and Seth hoped he wouldn't have to challenge it. He got out of the car and jammed the keys in his pocket before falling into step behind Finn. "What are you going to do?"

Finn didn't reply right away. Instead he strode purposefully towards the gate, taking the pen from his pocket. It was only out in the sunlight that Seth realized it wasn't a pen at all, but a thin scalpel, and Finn flicked off the safety cap into the grass and pressed the blade to his forearm. There was a dark outline there that Seth had always assumed was some abstract tattoo, but now he wasn't so sure. Turning to Seth, Finn grinned and pressed the blade down just enough to draw blood, careful not to let it drip off his arm. "I'm going to follow some of your advice: burn it down." 

"Wh—what?" Stunned, Seth struggled to keep up. Finn had just been talking about ensuring that Becky was alive and well—two things she would definitely _not_ be if she was trapped in a castle that was on fire.

"I want to speak with The Reeve!" Finn's voice was level, even bland, but somehow it boomed like the bass from a suped-up car stereo, making Seth's teeth shake. "Or else you'll be beset with demon fire." Then he slowly, deliberately tilted his arm to the side, letting just a drop of his blood fall to the ground. It made a small sizzling sound on impact and for a moment, there was nothing. Then a line of flame arched up, an impenetrable fence, and Finn gestured like an orchestra conductor, sending it around the castle. "The Reeve!" he repeated, tone getting sharper by the word. "Now!"

Seth didn't know who or what The Reeve was, but he almost felt bad for them. Almost, but not quite.


	8. Chapter 8

Becky didn't reject Paige's offer of blood after that first time. She refused to drink much, knowing the vampire needed to maintain her strength, but she would take enough to keep her nerves steady. _I'm never going to see another full moon,_ she thought. She thought she remembered Seth saying it was sixteen days away, but that was back on the day she and Paige had been taken. At least three or four days had passed since; she couldn't be sure, because the windows were warded so the sunlight wasn't an accurate gauge. "Thank you," she murmured, sitting back. Then she pointed towards Paige's amulet, or at least where it would be under her shirt. "If things get bad, should we . . . do the job ourselves?" She hated to even entertain the idea, but dying on her own terms, with her friend at her side, sounded better than prolonged agony to a soundtrack of jeers and cruel laughter.

"Things _are_ bad, baby girl." Standing, Paige kissed the top of Becky's head and stood directly in one of the sunbeams, clenching her eyes shut. With her amulet still in place, the sun could only irritate her, but she had been standing in the light longer each day, as if trying to get used to her looming fate. "But that doesn't mean we have to make it easy for them. I plan to fight every step of the way. Yeah, bitch, you heard me right." 

Puzzled, Becky was going to ask what Paige was on about until she noticed The Reeve basking in a neighbouring sunbeam. With her colouring, she almost blended in with the light. "Your powers aren't suffering. That's good. The last members of The Tribunal have finally arrived, and they'll all insist on seeing that you've been treated well."

"Oh yeah, the cell is great," Paige sneered. "Genuine dungeon ambience, high ceilings, lovely stone work. Have to take a star off for not having an en suite bathroom, but otherwise I'd recommend it to all future prisoners."

The Reeve arched an eyebrow. "Cute. So some of the brattiness is genuinely yours, and not merely an aspect of your persona. Good to know." She stepped out of the light, but somehow lost none of her radiance. "What about you, Becky? The Lass Kicker? Will you meet your fate kicking and screaming, or will you be mature and realize the error of your ways and meet your end with dignity?"

Becky gave a small shrug. "Haven't done much of anything with dignity up til now. Don't see much point in starting to, etiher."

Shaking her head, The Reeve started to pace around their cell. "This doesn't have to be horrible. If you admit your guilt, you will be spared the trial. The Tribunal may even show some mercy if you admit to your crimes."

"I didn't know it was a crime," Becky spat, stretching out on her back. It was a flimsy excuse and she knew it. On some level, she had known it wasn't right. Why else had she been so hesitant to tell her family about her arrangement with Paige? _Please don't let any of this blow back on them,_ Becky pleaded to whatever powers might be listening. 

"I did," Paige said flatly. "So's jaywalking, last time I checked, and most of the time, it hurts no one. Becky hasn't used the bond to have an unfair advantage over another werewolf, and I haven't used her blood to have a leg up on other vampires. We're only helping each other. Why all this fuss?"

"You two are in the public eye. You're on our televisions. You're in movies. Other supernaturals see you and look up to you and realize they can have an integrated life." The Reeve's benignly beautiful face turned cruel. "You have a platform to set an example, and instead you flout laws for your own gain. Our youth must learn that our laws have meaning and reason; they must learn there are consequences for disobeying."

"For rebelling, you mean." Paige leaned against the wall under the window and narrowed her eyes. "For going against a stupid law that shouldn't exist in the first place."

Becky lurched to her feet. "We're already rare: werewolves, vampires. . . ." She motioned to The Reeve, but still had no clue what her species might be. "All of us. Shouldn't we be working together to save as many of us as we can, not executing people for petty infractions?"

"What you deem _petty_ ," The Reeve insisted, stalking forward to stand right in front of Becky, "endangers us all. The two of you shouldn't even be working in the same company, let alone be seen as friends. You risk exposing us all!"

Paige rolled her eyes, but paidclose attention to The Reeve. "Right. Because any human's first guess at seeing Becky and me do well at wrestling is obviously going to be _They must be vampires!_ or _Gosh, that redhead sure does look like a werewolf._ " Paige's attempt at an American drawl wasn't the best, but it still made Becky want to laugh.

"If they can't tell this isn't real," Becky muttered, tugging on her hair, "they could have a picture of me mid-shift and still no one would believe them." If they were going to make her suffer regardless, Becky figured she might as well earn it.

The Reeve's anger was starting to simmer, and she switched her attention to Paige. "You. Dressing like some petulant child. Mocking your ancestry and acting like this is some sort of game. I was going to be considerate and offer the two of you the chance to decide who would receive their punishment first, but now I don't know if I should. . . ."

"Becky," Paige said immediately, drawing the werewolf's surprised stare. "If they bind you to wolf form, you . . . you won't understand what's happening when I burn, not fully. And I'll just see you as a wolf, which I've seen a million times before. We won't have to see each other suffer."

"Touching," The Reeve replied with a sneer, "but I'm afraid it's not that simple—"

"The Reeve! The Reeve!" The summons seemed to scream forth from the stones, and the eerie woman turned to the door just as it opened. A young man burst in, dropping his gaze suddenly as if one of the women might be undressed. "The gate. Demon," he gasped, as if unable to process too many words at once. "Demon at the gate. He asked for you."

Becky almost fell, but Paige caught her quickly, relief surging through them both. "A demon, you say? Well, this is going to have a grand punchline, isn't it? _A demon walks up to a castle and. . . ._ " Paige was trembling as she said it, but she hid it well. "I guess my message was relayed after all."

The Reeve squared her shoulders and tried to look imposing, but Becky could see a hint of concern in her eerie eyes. "When I'm done with these two," she declared. 

The young man's eyes opened painfully wide as he shook his head. "No. No, my lady . . . the demon. He's already cast demon fire around the castle. Our sentries can't return. We can't leave."

"Fine." The Reeve motioned for the young man to leave, and he almost forgot to lock the door behind him. "It seems your demon friend is trying to save you yet again. If he's that eager to join you, we have room for him too." Then she spiralled away into a sunbeam, leaving Becky and Paige holding each other upright.

"Finn. Is it Finn?" Becky asked breathlessly.

"I'm guessing so. Hoping, anyway." Paige shrugged, still shaky. "How many demons do you know?"

Becky looked up at the windows. They already knew the windows were warded against escape, but they were annoyingly high. "I didn't even know I knew one demon, remember? Who knows how many others I might know?" Then she stood against the wall and tried to measure the distance. "Do you think if I braced against the wall and you stood on my shoulders, you'd be able to see out?" If Becky were able to shift into her wolf form, she could do a partial transformation and use her claws to climb the wall, but she didn't want to endanger Paige.

"You go up," Paige offered. Walking along the wall, she picked what she figured was the lowest window and crouched down. "Take your shoes off so you don't kill my shoulders. I need them to showcase my bra collection."

"Nice try. I've shared a locker room with you, remember? You only wore a bra when you were in the ring, and that was to avoid any wardrobe mishaps." Becky still kicked off her shoes, though, and tried to steady herself against the wall as she stepped on Paige's right shoulder. "Fuck. We're both going to crack our heads open."

Paige held Becky's left leg and helped the werewolf position her right foot next. "No, we're not. Finn didn't come all this way just to find us bleeding out on the floor. Steady?" When Becky replied, Paige gripped the werewolf's ankles and stood slowly. "Anything?"

"Just . . . give me a minute." Becky could just grasp the bottom of a window and she hauled herself up, silently thanking her trainer for insisting on a daily count of pull-ups; werewolf strength was great to have, but it still needed to be honed. "Got it. Sort of." She rested her chin on the sill and looked out.

"Anything?" Paige repeated. Becky wasn't sure if the vampire had gone on tiptoe or was lifting her with her arms, but she managed to give Becky a few more inches.

"Fire. The guy was right. There's fire all around, but it looks weird. It's almost like ocean waves or something. And there's Finn. His arm's bleeding." Since he didn't seem particularly perturbed by it, Becky resolved not to worry. "And . . . fuck. Fuck no."

"What?" Paige's grip faltered a bit and Becky plastered herself to the wall as best she could. "Is he in demon form or something?"

"No." Desolation flattened out Becky's voice and her hopes. "Seth is with him."

"WHAT?" Paige's surprise weakened her grip completely and they both tumbled to the floor, though the vampire managed to stop Becky's head from hitting the unforgiving stones. "What is he thinking? He's just human! He can't do anything against these assholes!"

"I know." Becky hadn't got a good look at Seth, but her heart still surged at the sight of him. He could have easily stayed in the States and let Finn intervene. Mostly she wished he had, but she couldn't deny how good it felt to know he was there, to imagine how he had argued in favour of coming to help. No matter how often he said he loved her, she could still be plagued by doubt and insecurity. This was proof, right here; this meant more than any gift he could buy her, any words he could say. "But Finn wouldn't have let him come if he didn't think it was safe." She hoped not, anyway. Finn was Seth's friend too, and she didn't think he would put Seth in harm's way carelessly.

"You have my ward and my friend!" Finn's imperious voice seemed to echo through the walls, and it made Becky think back to the earliest days of her training, when she was enthusiastic but unbelievably awful. Finn must have hollered himself hoarse in those days, but he never complained; she came back for every lesson and he kept teaching her even when she didn't seem to be improving. "Return them to me now, or you will all burn down to the depths, where your souls will be a feast for my kin!"

"Oooh." Paige raised both eyebrows. "That sounds kind of fun, actually. Maybe I should have tried dating Finn instead of Alberto. Soul feasts are right up my alley."

_Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet,_ Becky willed Seth. As long as he just stood there and didn't draw attention to himself, maybe The Reeve and her people—The Tribunal and whoever else was there—would let him leave unscathed. "How does Finn think he can take on all of these people?"

Paige squeezed her hand as they huddled under a window, straining to listen. The familiar crackle of fire grew louder, but they felt no accompanying prickle of heat. "Demons are another thing entirely, baby girl. Most supernaturals will never even meet one—"

Becky kept her gaze trained on the window, waiting for a signal or some attempt at rescue. "Was Finn born a demon or—"

Before Paige could reply, The Reeve returned, not in a gentle beam of sunlight but like a bolt of lightning that made both women flinch from its searing brightness. "You two are coming with me," she ordered.

Becky felt a fleeting moment of relief. Then The Reeve closed a hand around her wrist and the world burned away, turning her hopes to ash.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: stabbing in a ritual context. If you need more info, let me know.

When The Reeve's hand had closed around her wrist, the first thing Becky had thought of was the ropy scar on Paige's ankle, where Finn had sealed the binding. The werewolf almost expected to see a similar wound on her wrist when consciousness came back to her, but aside from some residual redness, her forearm was fine. Paige looked equally unharmed, but slightly more woozy, making Becky wonder if teleportation—or whatever The Reeve had done to get them from their dungeon cell to the castle gate in a flash of light—might be easier on werewolves because they were already used to changing form.

Then Becky tried to stand, and both nausea and The Reeve forced her back to her knees. "Diana, on the werewolf. Willow, you take the vampire." At first, The Reeve's commands made no sense to Becky: she had been too busy trying to catch a glimpse of Finn and Seth. Then she felt the tightening around her throat, as if someone had trapped her neck in an electrified version of cat's cradle. "Don't struggle," The Reeve advised blandly. "It will only tighten. Witch knots are tricky that way." She was was wearing what looked like a golden version of a judge's robe and it fluttered around her legs like a flag in a storm.

Becky thought that was rather like telling someone walking on a tightrope not to look down, but she did her best to relax, tilting her head so she could at least see Paige—and possibly get a better sense of the magical trap around her. The vampire's knees were bent at an awkward angle because her captor was shorter than she was, and she kept trying to adjust her footing to compensate. The witch holding her—Willow, if The Reeve was correct—had her fingers splayed wide, arcs of energy jumping between them at random intervals. Every time the wall of demon fire flowed closer, Willow brought her hands closer to Paige. Pretty soon she would have her in a choke hold both physically and magically. 

"Couldn't . . . you at least give me . . . a taller guard?" Paige grimaced, balance faltering. "Or one who wears heels?"

"Quiet, parasite." Willow tightened her magic web even more, but gave it some slack when The Reeve gave her a sharp look.

Diana didn't seem as bloodthirsty—or at least not as trigger-happy—but Becky wasn't going to push her luck. "Paige, please," Becky whispered, knowing the vampire would be able to hear her just fine. So would the witches, so she didn't want to sat anything more.

"You have no jurisdiction here, demon!" The Reeve called out. Becky expected more of an audience to appear: the mysterious Tribunal members, at the very least, or some of the castle attendants who had more curiosity than sense. If they were watching, it must have been through the windows, though, because the stand-off remained small: The Reeve in front of the castle, flanked by her witch guards who were restraining Becky and Paige, facing off against Finn, with Seth at his back. "We may not be able to punish you for your transgressions, but Becky and Paige fall under our purview. You have no claim to them."

"I've known Becky since she was young. I trained her as a wrestler and helped her with her wolf. She is as much my sister as is my own blood. There's no greater claim." Finn stood straight and proud. "And Paige is my friend also, an equal partner in the binding. They're both here because of me. In all the ways that matter, they are mine."

The Reeve was having none of it. "Becky didn't know of your demonic nature when she revealed her nature to you," she sniffed. "Yet another transgression, not that it matters. She will be receiving the maximum punishment regardless, so one extra charge wouldn't change anything. Associations and allegiances don't hold that kind of weight with The Tribunal, demon."

Finn stepped closer, drawing the fire with him like a disembodied cape, and Seth scrambled to stay ahead of the flames. "You have my ward and my friend," he said again. "I'm not unreasonable. I'm willing to offer an exchange."

Diana gasped behind Becky, making the magical net tighten unexpectedly. "Sorry," she murmured, relaxing her grip somewhat. "A demon making an offering? It's unheard of. People ask _them_ for things; that's how it goes."

"Maybe not with him." Becky tried to think back to all her major, life-changing moments with Finn. She had gone to his school and asked for advice about moving to Canada to pursue wrestling, among other things; just like the traditional contract, she had asked for something and he had offered. But that was the way a student-teacher relationship tended to grow. What was she missing?

"The law cannot be flouted or circumvented by _offerings_ , demon," The Reeve replied snidely. "These two have broken laws—sacred, important laws that keep all our people safe—and they must be punished accordingly."

For someone who was having his offers continually rejected, Finn didn't seem particularly bothered. He gave a small smile and beckoned Seth forward, and Becky felt her heart lurch a bit. As reaffirming as it was to see him, there was no more dangerous place for him to be. "Don't you even want to hear my terms? _Loose_ terms, mind you. I know how tricky some of your kind can be with wording and precision. So, with that in mind, this is my _loose_ offer. First, you will release the vampire Paige and clear her record of anything pertaining to the binding."

"Not likely," Willow snorted, taking a step back to make Paige have to adjust her centre of balance once again. When Finn turned his glacial stare on her, she straightened up, giving the vampire a bit of slack.

Since The Reeve seemed to be listening—or at least not interrupting him—Finn continued. "You will also let Becky go and clear her record of anything pertaining to the binding. I will remove the binding between them and find someone outside of your jurisdiction for her binding, which you will not interfere with in any way." He finally looked directly at Becky then, gaze full of apology and regret. 

Becky shook her head as much as she dared. It was unlikely they were all going to survive, and she didn't want to part ways with Finn having him think she was mad at him for what he had done. To a degree, she was upset—and hurt, and confused—but those were all things that could be dealt with later, if they were lucky enough to share a _later_. In that moment, all that mattered was that he knew she didn't hold it against him.

The Reeve laughed at that, sending her golden hair rippling down her back. "The only ones outside of our jurisdiction are demons and humans, remember? All other supernaturals were wise enough to see the advantages to unity. What exactly do you plan to bind her to, pray tell?"

Becky couldn't remember the last time she had heard someone say _pray tell_ without the prompting of a script, but her laughter died in her throat as Seth stepped forward. "The question is _who_ ," Seth said, voice soft but steady, "and the answer is me."

" _Don't!"_ " Becky didn't realize it was Diana's voice until the witch braced her falling body with her own. "This could decapitate you!"

At that moment, Becky felt like she had already lost her mind, so losing her head as well wouldn't make much difference. "What is he doing?" she whispered, stricken.

"Damn, baby girl. Werewolf sex must be better than I thought if he's willing to be bound to you." Paige had finally found a reasonably comfortable position for her legs, so she looked over to Becky. "And not in the _whips and chains_ way."

"He can't," Becky mumbled, still dazed. There was a silent stand-off between Finn and Seth and The Reeve, and it seemed to weigh as much as the ocean, dragging Becky down. "He can't, he _can't_. . . ."

" _Shouldn't_ ", Diana said softly, leaning close to Becky's ear. "But it's not impossible." When Becky craned her neck as much as she could to look back at her, the witch shook her head almost imperceptibly. "It's magic. Dark magic, yes, but magic. The only limits to magic are the costs you're willing to pay."

Between the stress and the magical snare, Becky felt like she was about to hyperventilate, but she forced herself to focus on the fire behind Finn and Seth, now so close she could make out individual flames. "It's not worth it. . . ."

Becky hadn't meant for anyone else to hear, but Paige and the witches were too close not to. Willow snorted, but Paige smiled over at the werewolf. "It clearly is to him. Finn would have told him everything. He did with me. He made sure I knew exactly what I was getting into." She gestured gingerly at their captors, at the castle behind them. "Even warned me about something like this. Well, without the yoga bitch and the neck barbs, but you know what I mean."

"You're human," The Reeve replied at last. "This doesn't concern you. Leave now before you get hurt."

Seth shook his head firmly. "This concerns me because I _am_ human. Because I love Becky and I can help her and I know it's going to hurt and I know it's going to be a huge responsibility, but it's what I want."

"I'm hearing a lot about what you want, demon, and what this trifle of a human wants," The Reeve said with a disinterested sigh, "but I also heard you offer an _exchange_ without elaborating on what we would get in return."

What could a demon offer? What _couldn't_ they offer was probably a better question. "Damnation," Finn said with a smile, making The Reeve falter. "Punishment for your worst offenders. Not . . . indiscretions and small matters like this. For your monsters, for your depraved, for your absolute worst, I will be their punishment."

The Reeve's laugh sounded like the tinkling of broken glass, glittering and sharp. "That sounds like a treat for you, demon. An exchange should be of equal value."

Diana cleared her throat gently. "My lady, when a demon extracts vengeance or punishment on behalf of another, it . . . eats at their mortal tether. He is making a very generous offer. Even if you would summon him for one punishment a year, the effects on him would be—"

"Non-existent, because it's not happening!" Becky bellowed, startling Diana behind her. The magic snare got too close and cut into her collarbone, making her shriek. "Vero!" she gasped at the end of her scream. "Think about Vero! Don't you want to grow old with her?"

"I will. And you will too. I've got this sorted, Becky." When Seth tried to edge around him, anxious to see Becky's injury, Finn held him back. "She's fine. Trust me." Then he returned his focus to The Reeve. "As I said, the terms are loose. Acts of punishment take their toll on me, yes, so there would be very definite terms regarding my being summoned. I can't imagine you know many demons, let alone ones willing to barter with you, so this isn't an offer you're going to get often."

The Reeve tapped her chin. "The knowledge alone that we have a demon to dole out punishments would be a deterrent," she allowed. Then she seemed to come to a decision and she whirled on her witch guards. "Cast a containment circle for the vampire, the werewolf, and the human. The demon and I have much to discuss."

"Only if the demon fire remains as well," Finn countered, "as a gesture of good faith." Then he winked at Becky before added, "The Irish know a lot about faith."

Becky wanted to run to him, to hug him and then punch him or maybe the other way around, but the witches released the magic snares and herded her and Paige over to where Seth stood. Once the three friends were clustered together, the witches walked around them in a circle—Diana clockwise, Willow counter—and a larger version of the neck snare formed a perimeter within the demon fire, currently held at bay. "Finn, what are you doing?" Becky hollered out. Could she hurdle the flames and the magic fence? Unlikely, given the cramps in her legs from when she was being held in place.

"Nothing you wouldn't do, Rebecca." Then he winked again, and he and The Reeve were gone in a swirl of black and gold. Once the witches were satisfied that the magic fence would hold, they retreated to the castle gate and stood as sentries. 

"Becky?" Seth's voice broke through Becky's dazed stupor and she turned to see him watching her, eyes wide and worried. "Are you . . . both of you . . . are you okay?"

Scrunching up her nose, Paige nodded and rolled her shoulders. "Go ahead, baby girl. Kiss your boy. I've seen it all before." When Seth's eyes widened a bit, she sighed and added, "Well, not _all_ of it, but enough. You do realize you both wrestle half-naked, right?"

While Seth was still trying to think of a reply, Becky rushed forward and kissed him, hands shaking as they grabbed his head. "You're not doing this," she said flatly. "I don't know what Finntold you, but you're not doing this. It's too risky. You're only human; it could kill you."

Seth shook his head. "Finn wouldn't have even considered it if it would hurt me—and before you ask, I offered, and he objected too. He didn't pressure me into anything."

Becky kissed him again, this one a mix of anger and affection, and then yanked herself away, pacing so close to the perimeter of the magic fence that she felt it crackle against her skin. "No. Enough people have suffered on my behalf. Paige almost got sentenced to burn to death, and Finn's in there offering up bits of his _soul_." She sank to the ground and drew her legs up to her chest, resting her head against her knees. "I'll take my punishment, and then the rest of you can go free." Her voice softened when she asked, "Are the others okay?"

"Everyone's fine." Seth sat beside her and pulled her into his lap, hugging her gently. "They all send their love." He unwrapped one arm from Becky to rummage in his pocket, bringing out his cell phone, but he didn't seem particularly surprised when there was no signal. "Magic plus middle of the countryside equals no service, I guess." He was still able to scroll through some of his text messages, though, and he showed Paige and Becky his back-and-forth updates with the rest of The Shield and the Four Horsewomen and Renee. "Everyone wanted to help, but we figured it was best if things looked as normal as possible. Roman told the McMahons that you had a family emergency, Becky, and that Paige came back to Ireland with you. We couldn't think of another good reason why you would leave without warning. Sorry."

"I understand." Becky sat back enough so Seth could hug Paige and then she cuddled up with him again. Naturally she wanted her freedom, but if Finn wasn't able to convince The Reeve and she was condemned, at least she got to kiss Seth goodbye first. She tried to think of parting messages for her friends, hasty texts she could compose on Seth's phone for him to send when he had a signal, but she couldn't conjure up the right words to say. Maybe there were no right words in times like these; that was why people were always saying _I love you_ —because one day, they wouldn't be able to. "But I hope you understand that I can't let you get bound—"

Seth took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, waiting until she melted against him to stroke her back. "Bex, just wait until Finn brokers his deal. Hear him out. He wouldn't just offer me up as a sacrifice to save you."

Paige laughed. "Nah. He might do that to AJ Styles, but not to Seth."

"Seth, you don't get it. This isn't just . . . a commitment. It's not an engagement ring or—" Becky blushed furiously and looked away. There was no way to bring up an engagement ring to a boyfriend in a discussion where one wasn't present and have it not be awkward to some degree. "It's your _life_. It's forever. You have no idea what the side effects will be. What if binding me to you means _you_ can't wrestle on full moons?"

Seth shrugged, holding Becky against his chest. "Then I can't. I could even make it part of my persona. Say it's a religious exemption or something." Before Becky could accuse him of not taking it seriously, he straightened up. "I know there will be a catch, Becky. Some sort of side effects. And I'm okay with that. Because I had my moments where I thought my dream wasn't going to happen or it was going to be taken away. Hell, for years, you _lived_ that. And I don't want you to ever go through that again. I can help, so please let me."

"I know you get a say, baby girl," Paige chimed in, "but that means you also need to listen to his opinion. If he knows all the details, he has to make his own decision."

"But if _I_ don't agree," Becky pointed out, trying not to sound like a petulant child, "then there's no new bond, period." She felt a fine tremor run through her as she settled back against Seth. Paige curled up on the ground, pillowing her head on Becky's leg.

"Becky, you're not even listening." Seth kissed the top of her head. "If something would go wrong, Finn would be nearby. Paige would be nearby. We wouldn't be alone and adrift. You trusted me with your secret. You trust me to be there when you shift. Why don't you trust me with this?"

She did. That was what terrified her most of all. When she had heard him stand up to The Reeve and say he would be bound, her first thought—fleeting but sharp as a paper cut, its pain lingering long after the fact—was _Yes_. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Paige's company or her help; if things could have continued on as they were, Becky would have happily agreed. But a bond with Seth would guarantee his presence in her life in some regard. Even if they split up—something she didn't even want to contemplate—they would be forever linked. Maybe it would end up being horrible, but she couldn't imagine a life without him in it in some capacity. "I do," she said softly. "I do trust you. But I also don't want you to get hurt, especially not because of me."

"I can't think of a better reason," he replied.

Paige mimed a gagging sound. "I take it back. Just get married and get it over with. These declarations are getting sickening." She sat up slowly, rotating her neck back and forth. "Have we missed any shows yet? How pissed are the McMahons?"

Seth seemed to welcome the change of topic. "They . . . aren't happy. With Charlotte out, they didn't really want to lose another top woman. You'll have to talk to your family, Bex, and make up some lie so everyone's stories are the same."

"If we get out of this mess." The demon fire behind them subsided so abruptly, it felt like the air had been cut. "Finn!" Becky leapt to her feet. "He must be hurt—"

The magic fence dropped next, and Diana and Willow approached first, each carrying a bag. Willow nearly bowled Paige over with hers, but Diana politely handed Becky's over. "All your things are there," Diana said, "not that you came with much."

"Score one point for hiking, I guess," Paige muttered, opening her bag and examining its contents. "And don't think that means I'm signing up for another nature walk. Look what happens when I try to be outdoorsy! I'm not risking this bullshit again."

The Reeve strode between the two witches, Finn close at her heels. "We have come to terms. Paige, Becky, your records have been expunged. We will not pursue any action against further bindings so long as they don't involve another supernatural, but I will require proof that the bond between Becky and Paige is severed before I remove their spell-studs and allow you all to leave."

When Becky looked to Finn, he wouldn't meet her gaze entirely. "Finn, what did you do?"

Paige came up and grabbed her hand. "Not gonna lie, puppy, I'm going to miss this a little bit. It was good while it lasted, huh?" Tears gave her eyes a silvery sheen. "I'll just have to start answering your texts, I guess."

Finn looked over at The Reeve. "May I have a moment?"

The Reeve narrowed her eyes. "Not too long," she replied, "and not too far away."

Considering Paige's hearing, Finn must ave known they wouldn't have any privacy, but he still took Becky by the elbow and led her a bit away, taking a deep breath before hugging her. "You're okay, right? They didn't hurt you in any way?"

"I'm fine, Finn, but—"

"No. You need to listen. Please, just once in your life, you bull-headed lass, please just listen." Finn grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. "I will be okay. I will be fine. I got the way better end of this deal, believe me; The Reeve just doesn't know it yet. So please just . . . trust me. Have faith in me, like you used to. You would run at me, ready for a body slam, because you trusted me not to hurt you. I didn't then, and I won't now. I won't _ever_ , I can promise you that much."

"But your . . . your—" Becky struggled to think of the term the witch had used. "Mortal tether?"

Finn shrugged off her concern. "Like I said, The Reeve didn't get as good a deal as she thought. I made sure there were plenty of back-door clauses for me to use." Then he hugged her tightly, rocking from side to side. "Shit, Rebecca, I was so worried."

"I still _am_ worried," Becky countered, resting his head against his shoulder. "And I don't think Seth should be agreeing to any of this—"

"Let's get you and Paige unbound," Finn interjected, "and worry about rebinding when we're far from this muck-hole. You can go a full moon or two without a safety net, I'm sure. Come on." Then he led her back to where Paige, Seth, and The Reeve were standing; the witches were looking on from a distance, clearly curious but still obeying orders. "You'll both probably pass out," Finn warned, "so it would be better to do this by the car, but Seth and I will manage. Becky, Paige—if you would please face each other?" 

Becky and Paige moved into position, holding each other's gazes with a mixture of affection and awkwardness. "Love you, baby girl. Won't even make you pay for the scar removal." She shot Finn a cheeky grin. "Him, though, I might."

"Gladly," Finn replied. "Put your left hands together. Now this will hurt, but I promise it won't leave any marks." Then a strange blade, looking like a double-ended arrow, flashed in the sun, and he stabbed it through the back of Becky's hand and straight through Paige's.

The jab hurt enough, but the demon blade seemed to drag something _through_ Becky, pulling it out of her and into Paige. She had almost doubled over when Finn repeated the motion but in reverse. Whatever came out of Paige was crimson and cacophonous and it made Becky's lungs curl up like scrolls. Paige hit the ground a second before she did, flinging out an arm to pillow Becky's head. "Love you, baby girl." Paige's voice was distant and wavering, a tiny ship on a tempestuous sea, and everything in Becky's consciousness swam for it. Darkness came and went and pain sank its teeth in from all angles, and Paige was the only entity she recognized.

"Love you too." When she spoke, Becky felt like something had planted hooks in her rib cage and was hauling her up. Energy left her in waves, and when her wolf howled inside, it sounded a great distance away, mournful and lost. The last things she felt before she passed out were hands: Finn's hand applying pressure to her wounded palm; Paige's fingers drifting across her cheek, smearing blood like rouge; cold, trembling fingers wrenching at her forearm; Seth's hands curling around her thigh and her ribs as he lifted her up. The last thing she saw, though, was the sun, a sun that wouldn't kill Paige, at least not today.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Stabbing in a ritual context. If you need more info, let me know.

Becky was used to time moving differently when she was a werewolf. Maybe it was the result of being on four legs instead of two, or being lower to the ground, or simply being more wild, but time seemed to flow faster when she was a wolf. It was coming in flashes now: the cell, the castle ringed with demon fire, a vague memory of being carried to a car. The road was bumpy and unforgiving, sending her crashing into Paige several times, and then the car came to a screeching halt, right along with her wakefulness. The next thing she knew, she was cocooned in blankets on a bed with an old wrought-iron headboard, wakened by the singular sound of plastic bags crinkling. "Morning," Seth whispered, kissing her cheek.

 _He kissed my cheek._ It was such a simple thing, something he had probably done a hundred times before they had even started hooking up, but considering she had thought she might never see him again, each touch was a treasure, every kiss magnified. She struggled to worm an arm out of the blanket and hold his head to hers, her clumsy fingers getting tangled up in his hair. He smelled like soap and breakfast and the curiously blank scent of new clothes that hadn't been washed yet. "Is it?" Becky chanced opening an eye and looked around the room. It looked like a fairly standard mid-range bedroom in any English bed-and-breakfast, with the bedding that was obviously bought as a set, generic art on the walls, and furniture meant to make tourists think _quaint_. 

Seth showed her his watch as he sat beside her on her bed. "Quarter to noon, so technically, yes. We're in a vacation house. Finn rented it for a couple days to give you and Paige time to recover and so we would be able to discuss the new binding." Then he pointed to the floor, where several shopping bags sat. "Not a lot of options around here, but I'm guessing he wanted a remote place for obvious reasons. So I chose the best I could. Leggings, t-shirts, tank tops, bras, underwear, socks. I figured you could wear your hiking shoes for a few days without trouble."

"Thank you." Becky struggled to sit up and then hugged Seth tightly, burying her head in his shoulder. "You're here."

"Of course I am." Seth wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back. "You and Paige have been in and out for a day, but Finn said that's pretty normal when a binding is removed; he said it's traumatic and your bodies have to . . . sort of fill in the gaps, I guess. So we've been out to get food, toiletries, clothes for you and Paige, all that. I just got her a shit-ton of black, since this place isn't exactly Goth Central—"

"She'll probably want to go to Whitby before we leave," Becky chuckled, cuddling against Seth's chest. A little over a day ago, she thought she was doomed to die. Now she was in Seth's arms, free, about to have breakfast—or maybe lunch—with her friends. "You guys called someone back home so they know we're safe now?"

Seth handed her a glass of water from the bedside table and made sure she was steady enough to drink from it. "We did that as soon as we had the house secured. It's a little farm cottage outside of a town. The ceilings are . . . a little low for me and Finn," he added with a chuckle, "but it's far away from any neighbours, so we don't have to worry about privacy."

Becky reached up and patted his head. There were no obvious bumps, but she knew from experience that low wooden beams could be a pain to contend with. "Is there a washing machine?" she asked. "The new-clothes smell is going to make me sneeze."

"Yeah. In the kitchen, which is weird to me, but I guess over here it's normal?" Seth kissed her head again and stood up, grabbing all her bags. "I'll get stuff going for you. Food's ready whenever you are."

"I'll be right down." Becky flopped back on the bed, basking in the familiarity for a moment. The smaller dimensions, the uneven walls, the feeling of age that permeated everything: it reminded her so much of Ireland. _I could just . . . not go back. I could quit WWE, move back to Ireland. Maybe even start a wrestling school. . . ._ It would be easy enough to arrange a schedule around the full moon, and she would have her family nearby to run with, but she would always feel like she had left too much behind in the States. Wrestling, her friends, Seth: they were all far too large a part of her life to give up so easily. She lurched out of bed, smiling when she realized she was wearing one of Seth's shirts, and she looked at her other clothing options. With Seth preparing her new items to be cleaned, she was limited to two outfits: what she had been abducted in and what she had been wearing while being held captive. Neither set had particularly good memories attached, but since she had to wear something, she opted for the captive clothing; she didn't trust The Reeve or her people not to have done anything to their personal items.

When Becky reached the kitchen, which had obviously been extended from the original cottage, she was a bit surprised to see Paige already there, slumped at the table. She wouldn't need blood for a few days, but even then, Seth would be the only suitable donor: there was no telling what demon blood might do to a vampire, and neither Paige nor Becky were in a rush to enjoy The Reeve's hospitality again. "Hey, baby girl. I was just telling Finn that the moral of this story is clearly _Don't go hiking_. He disagrees."

Finn rolled his eyes ans he stood and went to hug Becky. "Morning, Becky. Vero's happy you're safe and well, and I've been instructed—"

"Ordered, more like," Seth piped up. He was sitting on the floor, cutting price tags off all Becky's new clothes and dropping them in one of the shopping bags.

"Yes, well . . . Vero would like you to come visit as soon as possible. I told her you'll have to weave some lies for the McMahons and possibly pull more house shows than normal," Finn added, "and she gets that. But it's something to factor in to your schedule, anyway." He pressed a trifecta of quick kisses to her forehead before letting her go. "How are you feeling?"

"Bit groggy, bit . . . empty. Like there's one last coin rattling around in the tin, you know?" Becky glanced over at the counter, laden with breakfast fixings, and made a beeline for the toaster. "When are we heading back?"

Finn grimaced a bit. "That's going to be a touch difficult, since I doubt your kidnappers were kind enough to grab your passports. I asked Roman and Sasha to look for them and courier them over as soon as possible, along with your wallets. So we really should wait for those to arrive, and we need to make sure you're both fit to fly." Then he gave Becky a more serious look. "And we need to talk about a new binding for you."

Becky busied herself with picking out toppings for her toast, opting to start with jam. "We don't have to figure that out right away," she insisted. "I lived for plenty of full moons without a back-up plan, so I'm sure I can muster few a couple more. If it lands on a wrestling night, I'll just . . . lie."

Seth shovelled an armful of clothes into the small washing machine and started it. "I put a bit of everything in," he said. "Is there no dryer, or. . . ?"

Finn pointed out the window to what looked like a pole with a bare umbrella frame on top. "Mother Nature provides," he said simply, "unless it rains, of course. And this being England. . . ."

"Americans." Paige shook her head and downed more coffee. "They're so cute. Maybe I should get myself one."

Becky went over and kissed Seth just before the toaster popped. "It'll be fine. Thank you. I appreciate it." As she slathered jam on her toast, she glanced over at Finn. "Honestly, why don't we just see how things go for a while? We've all been through a lot. There's no telling what another binding might do if it's done too quickly, right?"

Finn leaned against the counter, watching the werewolf for any signs of weakness. "On the other hand, the pathway is still there in you. Think of it like a piercing. If you keep an earring in, it keeps the hole open. If you let the hole grow closed, it hurts more when you try to reopen it."

"But you don't know what it will do to a human!" Becky exclaimed, nearly dropping her jam knife. "What if it hurts Seth or . . . or gives him werewolf attributes?"

"It will hurt," Finn confirmed. "All bindings do. They hurt the people involved and they hurt the demon doing the binding as well. That's the nature of the magic. But there won't be any lingering effects. I've done some . . . consulting."

Paige perked up at that. "With your demon friends? Any of them single? I have lots of pentagrams at home; they'll feel right at home."

Finn ignored the quip. "Seth will be fine, Becky. Trust me."

"What about you, though? Not with the binding," Becky clarified, gesturing with a slice of toast after she had bitten into it. "But with the punishments you'll have to dole out. Wasn't there something about wearing out your . . . mortal tether or whatever you called it?"

"Becky." Finn's tone was somewhere between tender and exasperated. "You don't get it, do you? This body isn't what makes me mortal."

Paige snorted. "No shit. When was the last time you saw a mortal with abs like yours?"

"Vero keeps me human. _You_ keep me human. Caring about you, you caring about me—that's what binds me here." Then Finn smiled, and even someone who didn't believe in demons would say it was the epitome of wicked. "Besides, demons are a hardy lot, and not that fond of rules. If The Reeve or anyone starts asking for too many punishments, I just need to call in a favour or two and that will stop in a hurry. Back to _your_ binding, though, Seth's blood should work just fine. You won't need much, and if I make his mark align with his wrist tattoo, it won't even be noticeable—and it will heal on its own each time, before you worry. I know a lot more about bindings now than I did when I did the one for you and Paige."

"And if anyone sees you munching on his wrist," Paige added, "you can just say you're experimenting with bloodplay because I told you how fun it is."

After pouring herself some coffee, Becky settled on the floor by Seth and started helping tear off price tags. "Why does it have to be blood?"

Finn shot Paige a sharp look before saying, "It can't be something you do or use often."

"Which means it can't be saliva because you two are kissing all the time, and it can't be sperm, since—" Paige wrinkled her nose and shot the werewolf a faux-innocent smile.

Seth blushed a bit and focussed on removing the last of the tags. "It's not like we have sex five times a day, you know."

"Not on work days, anyway." Becky leaned over and kissed his cheek, feeling his blush deepen. "Okay, okay, we get the point. But I can't bite him for obvious reasons, so would I just. . . . ?" She made a vague cutting motion, as if she had a scalpel in her hand.

"Yes. I'll get you a special blade, one that will open the wound easily. You'll just have to keep it with you, but I can make it look like an EpiPen or something like that—something you would logically keep with you at all times. Aside from that, it would work just the same as Paige's bond with you." Finn held her gaze for a moment. "Does that mean you're considering it?"

Becky didn't reply right away. "Enough people have been hurt because of me. Paige was abducted and almost killed. You entered into a soul-sucking bargain. My other friends were attacked. . . . "

"I want to, Becky." Seth rested his forehead against hers. "I was the one who asked Finn if it would work with a human. I volunteered. No one else brought it up; no one pressured me."

"But there's no way to know all the possible side effects," Becky protested, kissing Seth before returning to her breakfast. 

"There was no way of knowing if you would be badly hurt if you started wrestling again," Seth pointed out, "but you still came back—because you loved it so much. Because you decided it was worth the risk. For me, you're worth the risk. I trust Finn and I trust you. It's up to you—it will always be up to you—but don't worry about me. I'm on your side, always."

The decision wasn't made right away or all at once. They finished eating and then put Becky's laundry out to dry while Paige's ran through the wash. Finn scouted the grounds for a good spot for a ritual circle that could be easily covered up after and Paige took advantage of being in England to call some local friends, even if she wouldn't be able to visit them. While Paige and Finn were both out, Seth and Becky treated themselves to a long shower that inevitably turned to sex even though the stall was barely big enough for one person, let alone two. When Seth whispered _Please_ against her shoulder again and again, Becky knew it had nothing to do with climaxing or where her hands were.

"You have to be sure," Becky gasped. "Absolutely sure."

Seth held her gaze for as long as he could keep his eyes open. "I am. I absolutely am."

"Okay." Her first orgasm washed through her then, weakening her knees and her resolve in one glorious rush, but when they finally went back downstairs and rejoined Finn and Paige, neither seemed surprised by Becky's eventual acceptance. 

Finn made them wait until sunset—a liminal time, he insisted—and led them to a spot out past an old barn that the owners were clearly planning to convert to a rental property but hadn't finished. "I'll get you a better skean than this before the full moon," he promised Becky as he showed her a small dagger, "but it'll do for the rite." Then he looked to Seth. "As much as this might look like it's a handfasting, it's not. You know that, right? You remember what we discussed?"

Seth's gaze went dark for a moment and Becky was about to ask what she had missed, but he nodded too quickly. "I know. My answer hasn't changed."

"Good. Then hold out the wrist that has the tattoo." When Seth did, Finn tapped the tip of the blade against the inked skin. "This will hurt. It has to go all the way through in order for the binding to hold, but I swear to you it will heal like new."

Seth gave a sharp nod. "I trust you."

Paige still came up behind him, ready to brace him if need be. "Thank you," she whispered by his ear. "Thank you for helping her now that I can't."

"It's my pleasure." Seth smiled at Becky before taking a deep breath. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Becky, hold that hand," Finn instructed. Next he cast the blade in the four directions, then up and down, chanting all the while. It sounded vaguely Irish to Becky, but far older than any dialect she knew. When the tip of the blade came to rest on centre letter in Seth's tattoo, she almost looked away, but she forced herself to focus. Watching the narrow blade slide in, smooth as a caress, made her wince and Seth's hand tightened in hers, but she refused to look away. Seeing the blade stick out the other side was surreal, like looking at a special effect in a movie that was too glossy to be real. "Now, Becky, you need to withdraw the blade. Do it slowly, and keep it as steady and vertical as you can."

"Okay." She was holding Seth's hand with her right, so pulling the blade out was more complicated than it ought to be, but she managed to get it free without making Seth wince too often. As Finn promised, the wound was already starting to close, but now she was left with a bloody dagger in her hand. "Now what?"

"Lick the blade clean. Carefully, of course." Finn took a step back and watched as Becky gingerly licked all the blood off the dagger. "Now hand it back to me." Becky offered it handle first, shaking slightly, and Finn smiled at her. "Don't worry. No more blood for you today." Instead he carved a small mark on his left forearm, then smudged it with his own blood. "I'll get you your own skean when we get back to the States, but the first time you try to test the binding, I suggest having the blood earlier in the day. Don't leave it until the last minute." With the tip of the blade, he traced just over the boundaries of Seth's wrist tattoo. "A cut anywhere in there with the skean will do."

Paige stepped away from Seth, patting his shoulder before wiping a non-existent tear from her eye. "My baby girl's becoming a vampire!" she laughed. She followed it up with a kiss to Becky's cheek, though. "I hope it works, babe. I really do."

For the moment, Becky was done with hope. It was belief or nothing at all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Cutting and blood drinking in a ritual context. If you need more info, let me know.

The first few days after they returned to America were so full that Becky almost would have forgotten about the full moon if her phone and Seth's hadn't fired off their reminders. She'd had to go to the McMahons to beg forgiveness for her hasty departure, but luckily Stephanie was feeling merciful and only warned her not to do it again. She had missed a bill payment, but that was easy enough to fix. To make things easier for Finn, she had gone to his place for an afternoon visit to placate Vero, who then asked her and Seth to spend a week with them in the summer. Another afternoon was spent getting acquainted with her skean; she didn't ask Finn where it came from, but it was elegant and enchanted to look like an EpiPen to anyone who didn't already know she was a werewolf.

On the morning of the full moon, which was one of their rare days off, she pulled the skean out from under her pillow and looked at it while Seth was still sleeping. It felt wrong to purposefully push down her wolf on one of her few free days, but it was better to test the binding when she didn't have an impending match to worry about. "Vampire time?" Seth murmured, rubbing his eyes as he woke.

"We—we don't have to. We can do it on another full moon," Becky insisted. She started to set the dagger on the table by his bed, but Seth pulled her and the dagger down to him. "Seth, I mean it—"

"And I mean _this_ —" He kissed her slowly, wrapping her fingers around the dagger's hilt. "Come on, Bex. We didn't go through that rite for nothing. Finn will want to know if it worked."

"Okay." Becky unsheathed the dagger and pressed it lightly against Seth's wrist, hesitating. "You have to tell me if I've cut too deep or if I drink too much or—"

"I will. I promise."

It felt so wrong to be digging the blade into his skin, calling forth blood, but Becky sliced along the lower edge of the scroll. When Seth's blood started welling up, she carefully set the skean aside and fixed her mouth over the wound. Seth's free hand slid into her hair, fingers moving gently until she tried to pull back; then they tightened, trying to coax her back. "Are you sure you don't want to be dating a vampire?" Becky said, trying to lick her lips clean before Seth could see his blood on them. "I hear Paige is single. . . ."

Seth's eyes opened slowly, dark and unfathomably deep, and he barely let Becky clean the blade and put it back in its sheath before he pulled her on top of him. "I know exactly what I want."

"Well, it's not a work day, so. . . ." They stayed in bed for the rest of the morning, fucking off and on, and after having a late lunch, they spent most of the afternoon the same way. "I suppose we should go find a spot and test the theory," she murmured against his chest, "as much fun as this is." Normally she would never let herself be so reckless on a full-moon day, but drinking Seth's blood had made her feel strangely steady.

"True." They got up slowly and both dressed in casual clothes, grabbing Becky's wolf bag as a matter of course. Seth randomly chose the site from a few she trusted most near his house and they tried to keep everything as strict as before, but even the forest felt different to Becky. Seth must have sensed it too, because after he spread out her shifting blanket, he pulled her into his arms. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Too okay? I don't know. Maybe I just figured it wouldn't work. . . ." Then Becky shook her head. "I should still get undressed just in case."

Seth grinned, sitting down on the blanket. "Won't hear me complaining."

Laughing, Becky tugged off her clothes and dropped them beside Seth before curling up on the blanket, resting her head on his thigh. "This just feels so weird, to not be shifting when I have no reason not to."

"I'm sorry. Bad timing, I guess. But it's better to know, right?" Seth stroked her back steadily, the touch more affectionate than arousing, and they let the conversation drift to non-werewolf things, like upcoming rivalries and when they could sneak away to spend a week with Finn and Vero. Darkness fell, the full moon rose, and—"Nothing?" Seth asked. He had moved a bit away from Becky, just to be safe, but her demeanour hadn't changed all night. 

Becky shook her head with a mixture of happiness over the success of the binding and a sense of loss over the transformation she could have enjoyed otherwise. "Nothing." She still waited, though, even getting to her feet and standing in a clearing so she could bask in the moonlight. The wolf was still there: she could feel it, confused and contained, occasionally pushing at the binding and eventually giving up, curling up to slumber until called again. The surge of gratitude she felt at that realization was almost intoxicating. At the moment, though, she had something else on her mind. 

She should be able to have sex with Seth without fear of hurting him.

Seth was still watching her face for any sign of change, so he didn't realize she was pouncing on him until she had already knocked him backward and straddled him. "If I can't shift," she reasoned, pushing his shirt up, "I'll have to wear off all that extra energy some other way."

"Good thing it's not a work day," Seth answered with a laugh. "Of course, if we tell Paige—" He was cut short when Becky pulled his shirt over his head. 

"Pretty sure we fucked five times in the morning alone," Becky said with a laugh, working on his shorts next. "At some point, I stopped keeping count."

"At some point, I stopped being able to count." It didn't take Seth long to kick off his shorts and then they were tangled together on the blanket, entwining so seamlessly it was like they had never left Seth's bed at all. They stayed there all night long, basking in the light of the full moon together for the first time, but definitely not the last.


End file.
